Tsumeki-chan
by Glory of Dawn
Summary: Fifteen years ago, shortly after Naruto was born, the Uchiha rose up against Konoha. The uprising was quelled, but at the price of the Fourth Hokage's life, as well as the lives of many others, ninja and civilian alike. Now, Naruto is graduating from the Ninja Academy and is excited to make his mark on the world...And maybe the cute redhead on his team. NarutoxFemKyuubi.
1. Graduation

**DAYUM, folks, it's been a while! Three years since my last update on anything. Did ya miss me? Probably not, because there are loads of other authors on this website who actually HAVE talent! Hahaha. At any rate, this is the reboot of Kyuubi-chan, my most successful story to date. I don't know how many of you will like what I'm doing with the reboot, but I didn't like the direction I took with the last one. The whole Trelief thing? Bit too much of a, "Here's a story!" situation for me. **

**TL;DR version: I'm back, baby.**

**Also. Because I heartily disagree with putting twelve year olds into the ninja force, people are going to be fifteen (15) when they graduate for the purpose of this fic, and therefore are 15 now, as this begins directly after graduation. Okay, I'll stop talking now, story time.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Pay attention, because this is only going to be said once (unless, of course, that changes.)**

* * *

The apartment was better than the orphanage. That much was certain. It wasn't great, but it was something. Naruto's heart was hit with a sudden pang of sorrow. The Hokage had authorized bimonthly stipends of money to the older orphans because the orphanage was getting too full to hold them all. Mostly, the newcomers were children of ninjas. They were scared, confused, and sad.

_Just another reason to push myself, _thought Naruto. _If I can become a great ninja, maybe I can stop the deaths._

Naruto got out of bed and headed over to the kitchen area. He opened up the fridge and pulled out some eggs. He looked around the inside of the fridge for a moment, but it was relatively empty. He got his stipend today, though, so he'd be able to do some much-needed shopping. He shut the fridge and cracked the eggs over a pan. Cooking had been one of the responsibilities taken on by the older orphans in the weeks before the Stipend Act, so Naruto was familiar with making scrambled eggs.

As an afterthought, Naruto checked on top of the fridge to see if he had any bread left. There was a tiny bit of a loaf, but it was only end pieces. It'd have to do. Naruto plopped them soft-side down on the grate on top of his stove burner, as he didn't have a toaster.

Today was the day on which teams would be formed out of this year's academy graduates. More than anything, Naruto hoped he wouldn't be placed on the same team as Sasuke.

Fifteen years ago, maybe a day or two after Naruto was born, there was a civil war in Konoha. Rumors were circulating about an Uchiha uprising against the Hokage. The Fourth was looking into the matter when the Uchihas, fearing their plans had actually been discovered, launched the first strike. The Hokage didn't survive the night, though most of the Uchiha didn't either. Many people were orphaned that day, including Naruto. He was told his parents were killed defending the Hokage. Shortly after the attempted coup, there was a retaliatory strike against the rest of the Uchiha. The only survivors were a seven-year-old Sasuke, and his older brother, Itachi. Itachi fled the city the same night, making him highly suspect for the murders of his own family, as he alone among the fighting-age Uchiha had not participated in the coup.

And yet somehow, Sasuke still managed to become the village idol without even trying. Any time someone brought up his family, the response was, "Oh, he was too young," or some crap like that. The subsequent slaughter of them always brought out the, "Oh, poor dear," comments. And so, he got special treatment – even instant adoption by a wealthy family – while the rest of the orphans, children of loyal Konoha citizens and Shinobi, got shoveled into the orphanage.

It made Naruto sick.

He dumped the pan of eggs out onto a paper plate, grabbed his end piece toast, and sat down at the table to eat.

It was too bad, really; Naruto was looking forward to the possibility to being on the same team as Sakura, but she hadn't graduated. While she had the best marks on anything written or spoken, and even the jutsu they were taught, her taijutsu skills were nonexistent. The examiners decided that, while she had the makings of an excellent ninja, she would have to wait for the next graduation exam so that she could get better marks at taijutsu. As it was, they said, she wouldn't survive a fight for long in her current shape.

So, who did that leave as possibility for teammates? There was...the dog kid. He'd be interesting to have on his team. He was kind of weird smelling, but he was cool, from the interactions he'd actually had with...Keyer? No, that wasn't right. Then there was Ino, the chick Sakura was always hanging out with. Naruto didn't really like her; she was kind of a bitch. Her mind transfer bit was cool, though, and Naruto could see a lot of applications for it in battle. Then there was Cho-something, the fat –

Naruto's alarm rang, letting him know he had ten minutes until he had to be in the classroom for team assignments. He yelped in surprise, scarfed down the rest of his food, smacked the off button on the alarm, and dashed out the door.

He then ran back into the apartment, took off his pajamas, put on his headband and his green Shinobi surplus fatigues, and left again.

As Naruto ran down the streets of Konoha, he passed people he knew. His passing earned him such comments as, "Good job on graduating!" and, "Keep up the good work, you'll make a fine ninja!" He also passed several of the orphans out with one of the matrons. The young orphans cheered at him, and the matron, a young woman named Iya, waved to him with a smile.

Passing the orphans put a smile on Naruto's hurried face. Ninjas were the ultimate heroes to any orphan, because so many orphans become ninjas. Naruto knew the feeling. It gave you a sense of purpose, of meaning. It meant that even though you had no parents, and no family at all to call your own, you still had a chance of being successful in life. You could still be great, be known, be important. You still had hope, even though you were just one small kid in a very large world.

_Today is for you guys, _Naruto thought. _I'm doing this for you._

Naruto skidded to a halt before the Academy door, barely not crashing into it. He took a step back so that his nose no longer touched the door, opened it, and went inside.

Being a Saturday, no classes were taking place. The only sign of life in the building were the muffled voices from inside the classroom were team assignments were happening. Naruto entered, and the clock on the wall glared at him: 8:58. Almost didn't make it.

Unfortunately, after tearing his eyes away from the clock's indignant gaze, the first thing he saw was Sasuke brooding.

_Freaking Sasuke. Asshole._

Naruto took a seat in the third row of desks.

While he was waiting for Iruka to start, Naruto's mind wandered to how dangerously close he was to joining Sakura in the Academy for the next year. While his Taijutsu skills were above average, his jutsu scores had been low. The ones they wanted the students to perform were more about control than anything, and Naruto was heavy on the amount of chakra he could push, but lacking on fine control. His results were low, but not bad; just enough to disqualify him by three percent.

Of course, then there was the whole escapade with Mizuki and the scroll, the Shadow Clone jutsu, and-

The clock chimed nine, and Naruto was ripped out of his reverie and the last few days lay forgotten as he leaned forward in anticipation.

Iruka began calling off names of people he didn't know and organizing them into their teams. After four teams, Naruto's name had not been called, and he started to lose interest. A few names came by that he knew – Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. Chouji! That was his name! He didn't really recognize the next two, but the third name called was Kiba, to which Naruto snapped his mental fingers in immediate recognition.

All of a sudden, Naruto heard his name called, and he sat straight up in his chair (_When did I start slouching?_). The next name was Tsumeki Shuro. Naruto knew her; she was from the orphanage, like him. She was cute, a redhead, and was maturing nicely. She was just a bit shorter than Naruto, probably about 5'6". She was shy, though. She never really talked to anyone, even in the orphanage, and she had a constantly sad look on her face.

Before Naruto had more time to think about his new teammate, the third name was called.

Sasuke Uchiha.

And behold! How Naruto's day was ruined!

* * *

When their sensei, Kakashi Hatake, had finally arrived, they were brought to the roof of the Academy building. The three genin all took a seat on the ground, while Kakashi leaned against the railing.

"All right," he said. "The first thing we're going to do is get to know each other. Tell us a bit about yourself." He pointed at Naruto. "You start."

Naruto blinked. "Uh. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen and taijutsu. I'm kind of loud and sometimes obnoxious."

Kakashi continued to look at him.

Naruto took this as a sign to continue. "I don't have a ton of chakra control, but I have loads of chakra. I have really good stamina, too. My dream is to become the Hokage one day."

Kakashi nodded and turned to Sasuke. "You next."

Naruto tuned out every word that Sasuke said. He had no interest in what Sasuke had to say.

_Bastard_.

"Now you," Kakashi said to Tsumeki.

"My name is Tsumeki," she said, her voice quiet. "I like orchestra music, being outside, and practicing to be a better ninja. I'm good at...stealth, I guess. Being quick. A little genjutsu, but nothing big. One day, I want to..." she choked up for a minute. "...Nevermind, I don't want to talk about it."

Naruto furrowed his brow, concerned. She looked like she was about to cry.

Kakashi gave a noncommittal, "Mm," and then said, "Tomorrow, meet me at training ground forty-one at nine o'clock sharp. Don't be late. And don't eat breakfast. You'll puke."

"Wait, Sensei, aren't you going to intro-"

"Dismissed," Kakashi said. He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"-duce yourself?" Naruto finished.

Sasuke got up and, without a word, sulked off of the roof, presumably heading back to his fancy-pants mansion with his family.

_Dickhead._

Tsumeki, on the other hand, hadn't moved from the position she sat in. Naruto watched her for a moment. She still looked like she might cry. Naruto slid over to where she sat.

"Hey there."

Tsumeki jumped a bit, but otherwise gave no reaction to his presence.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Please...just leave me alone," she said, her voice cracking.

Naruto sat there for a moment, awkwardly. He hardly knew how to comfort a girl, much less one that didn't want him around. "Well...uhm...okay." He got up and started to walk away, but then turned back for a moment. "If you...uh...need to talk, or something...let me know."

She was silent.

"...Yeah. Well. Uhm. Okay. Bye."

His hands in his pockets, Naruto walked down the stairs from the roof back into the building. As was his custom for staircases, he skipped the last step. As he was walking out, he was stopped by Iruka.

"Hey, Naruto, come here for a minute."

Naruto went towards him. "Yeah?"

"About the other day, with Mizuki. I just thought you'd want to know that he's in prison now. They're considering charges of treason, but they haven't reached a verdict on that yet. As of right now, he's just got assault, theft, and two counts of attempted murder. He's not getting out any time soon."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks."

"No problem. Like the Hokage said you would be, you're clear of any charges. You were mislead and had no idea what you were doing wasn't a sanctioned form of testing."

As they were chatting, Tsumeki walked by. She didn't look like she was going to cry anymore, but still had her usual somber expression on.

"Hey, Naruto," Iruka said when she had left the building. "You take care of her."

"Huh?"

"That girl is a diagnosis away from depression. I don't know what her story is, but she might have trouble adjusting to ninja life. It's a lot more fast paced and unforgiving than I think she realizes it will be."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Just...make sure she doesn't get too down, yeah? I don't know if she's the suicidal type or not, but your age is when a lot of people who can go that route do."

"Yeah, I'll...I'll do what I can."

Iruka smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man. That's all I have for you." He waved his hand towards the exit of the building. "Go have some fun. You'll need it tonight; tomorrow's going to suck, if Kakashi's still doing the bell test."

"The what?"

Iruka bit his lip. "Said too much. You heard nothing from me."

Naruto looked at Iruka skeptically. "If you say so." He turned to leave the building. "Later, Iruka."

"See you around, Naruto."

* * *

After receiving his stipend money from the Hokage Tower, Naruto made his way toward the market district. He needed to buy some food, and he was in a bit of a mood to celebrate. It obviously couldn't be anything too fancy, given his monetary situation, but he had something in mind. Naruto smiled for a moment and took off his headband. He pocketed it and began to weave through the crowd, making his way towards his favorite place to eat.

Ichiraku Ramen was a family owned business, a small stand which sat six people at the counter. The proprietors were Old Man Ichiraku and his daughter, Ayame. All of their ramen was homemade, using noodles that were made from start to finish in the stand and fresh ingredients. They didn't have a huge customer base, and didn't make a ton of money, but they made enough money to live comfortably and occasionally expand their stand a bit. Their biggest concern was making quality ramen for their customers.

And oh, was it quality ramen.

Naruto went into the stand and sat down at the counter, on a stool next to a wall.

He was instantly greeted by the owners. "Heyyy, if it isn't Naruto!" said Ichiraku.

"Hiya, Naruto!" said Ayame.

Without asking what kind of ramen Naruto wanted (the answer was always the same, after all), Ichiraku began preparing him a bowl. "So, the big test was just the other day, wasn't it?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it was."

"Ohhh, how'd you do?" asked Ayame. She leaned up against the counter, excited.

"Welp," Naruto said. "I took the test, and I failed."

Ichiraku stopped, and Ayame's face fell. "Oh...Naruto," she said, reaching a hand out in comfort.

"But!" Naruto said, grinning and reaching into his pocket. "I made it up with extra credit." He held up his headband.

Ichiraku's grin stretched up to his eyes, and Ayame squealed in excitement. "Oh, good job, Naruto!" she exclaimed. "I knew you could do it!"

"Well done, Naruto! Here, have this bowl on the house." Ichiraku placed the finished ramen in front of Naruto.

"Well, in that case, I'll have two!" Naruto said, offering up payment for the second bowl. "And why not, let's try a new flavor. Hit me with whatever you think is best."

"Oh, I can't pick favorites," Ichiraku said, turning to grab another bowl. "They're all my children."

Ayame frowned, looked over her shoulder at her father, and kicked him lightly in the leg.

The old man laughed. "Oh, but you're my favorite out of all of them, dear."

Naruto would have laughed, but that would have led to him choking on his ramen. After he swallowed a mouthful, he looked at Ayame. "Hey, Ayame, you're a girl."

"Well spotted," she said, chopping up some vegetables.

"I need some advice."

Her head snapped around so quickly Naruto was amazed she didn't have whiplash. "What? Advice? Advice on girls? A girl? You have a girlfriend? What's her name? What's she like? Is she pretty? She's not a brat, is she? Not going to trod on your heart like that Sakura?" Her questions were spilled out so fast that Naruto had to take a moment to sift through them individually.

"No, no, it's not like that," Naruto said. "We got placed into our teams today, and one of my teammates is a girl."

Ayame looked a bit disappointed, but nodded for him to continue.

"I've never really talked to her before now, but I've seen her around the orphanage and in class. She's got this permanently sad look on her face, and today, when we were all introducing ourselves, she almost burst into tears. Afterward, I tried to go and comfort her, but she asked me to leave her alone."

Ayame narrowed her eyes, still chopping the vegetables without looking at them. "Did you?"

"Well...yeah. She asked me to."

"Oh, Naruto..." Ayame sighed. "If a girl asks you to leave her alone, you NEVER leave her alone."

Naruto's face contorted with confusion. "But...that's...why would you...that makes no sense! Why wouldn't she just say she didn't want to be left alone?"

"Because she's a _girl_, Naruto. Girls don't work like that."

"Well, what _should _I have done?"

"You should have stayed there and talked to her. Anything would do. You get her talking, and then you slowly work towards the question of what's bothering her."

"But why didn't just asking her work?"

"Because she's a GIRL," Ayame repeated, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Don't you get it?"

"No," Naruto said confidently. "No I don't."

Ichiraku placed the second bowl of ramen in front of Naruto, and Naruto dug into it.

"Well, now that you've gone and bungled the situation," Ayame said, "You can't just go straight back into it next time you see her. When do you see her next, anyways?"

"Tomorrow. Our team has another test or something tomorrow, early in the morning."

"Why? Do other teams have tests like that?"

Naruto shrugged.

Ayame waved her hand in dismissal and began chopping more vegetables for the order of another customer who just came in. Ichiraku was striking up conversation with him as he prepared the rest of the ingredients.

"Anyways," she said, "just be friendly for now. Talk to her. Don't bring up what happened today. Wait for either her to bring it up or for her to start crying again. Then it's okay to bring it up. And then," she said, looking at Naruto and gesturing at him seriously with the knife in her hand, "you do what I told you. Got it?"

Naruto nodded, but didn't say anything, as he was in the middle of slurping up some noodles.

Ayame nodded back, and then returned to cutting vegetables. "And you let me know when she's your girlfriend. Promise you'll bring her here when it happens."

Naruto swallowed. "Ayame, I don't think-"

She looked at him, pointing the knife again. "Promise."

He sighed. "I promise that if she ever becomes my girlfriend, I will bring her here."

Ayame smiled. "Good!"

The man next to Naruto looked at him. "Looking to get yourself a girl, eh?" he said.

"Not exac-"

"Well, if she says yes, or better yet, when you decide to ask her, you come down to my shop. We sell flowers. Just mention that you met me at Ichiraku, I'll give you a discount."

"Uhm...thanks," said Naruto.

The man smiled, waved, and took his ramen to go.

When Naruto had finished the second bowl, he got up. "Thanks, guys. It was a great meal. And hey, you'll probably see me around here a little more often now that I'm a ninja and will be getting actual pay."

"That'd be great!" said Ichiraku. "We always love seeing our customers more often."

Naruto smiled. "Well, thanks again. I'll see you later!"

"Good bye, Naruto!" said Ichiraku.

"Bye!" called Ayame.

* * *

It was dark out when Naruto finally returned to the apartment. He had several bags of groceries in his arms, as well as one from a clothing store, where he had picked up some good boots and another pair of surplus fatigues, this time in black. It had taken a chunk out of his stipend that he hadn't planned on spending, but he needed some more heavy duty clothing that would stand up to the abuses ninja life would put them through. Besides, he was a ninja now. He'd be going on missions and getting a paycheck.

The thought made Naruto smile. Finally, he was able to not only support himself, but give something back. Soon, he would be able to refuse the stipend, and it could go towards someone else who needed it.

He opened the fridge and began placing the food inside of it. What didn't go inside the fridge went inside the pantry, except for the fruit. The fruit (which he didn't have much of; it was a bit more expensive right now) went in a bowl on top of the microwave. He undressed and tossed his clothes into a laundry basket, which was getting dangerously full.

"Laundry tomorrow," he noted out loud. "After whatever sensei has in store for us." Naruto's stomach rumbled a bit. "No breakfast tomorrow. Guess I'll just eat a bigger dinner tonight, to make up for it." He fixed himself up some chicken and rice, ate that, and then slipped into one of his pairs of pajamas and climbed into bed.

After he turned out the light, Naruto kept his eyes open for a bit. At first he stared at his ceiling, but his eyes gradually moved out toward the window. He watched the stars for a moment.

_Tsumeki. I really hope I can help you._

With that thought, Naruto rolled over and shut his eyes to go to sleep.

* * *

Naruto approached training ground forty-one. He was just a few minutes early. Tsumeki and Sasuke (_Freaking asshole) _were already there. He paid no mind to Sasuke, and instead headed toward Tsumeki, intent on making conversation, with Ayame's advice fresh in his mind.

As he got closer, it looked like she was asleep, leaning against one of the posts in the training ground. Naruto didn't bother her. He just slid down the post into a sitting position and watched the clouds. She stirred almost as soon as he did, and she opened her bleary eyes to look at him.

"Good morning," Naruto said, grinning.

"Morning," she said back, sitting up straight.

"How're you?"

Tsumeki seemed kind of surprised at the question. "I'm...tired. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Loud people in the apartment next door."

Naruto winced. "I'm sorry."

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Tsumeki asked, "Why are you here?"

"Because Kakashi told us to be here?"

"No, I mean _here._ Talking to me."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because...I don't know, because nobody ever seems to make an effort to talk to me."

"Well, we're teammates now. No point in not making friends."

She looked at him, head cocked slightly. "You don't seem that intent on being friendly with Sasuke over there." She gestured at the brooding Uchiha, twentyish feet away.

"That's different. He's an asshole."

Tsumeki said nothing.

"Why are you so shy all the time?" Naruto asked, not letting the silence turn into anything lasting.

Tsumeki didn't seem sure how to respond. "I...because...I..." she sighed. "Because I'm different, I guess."

"Different how? Your hair? Let me tell you a secret. Sakura's pink hair? That's natural. And there was a girl in our class with blue hair. Yours is way more normal than either of those." Naruto grinned. "C'mon, it's okay. You aren't different."

Tsumeki curled her legs up to her chest, put her arms around them, and rested her face on her knees. "It's not that, it's...I don't want to talk about it. Can we change the subject?"

"Yeah, sure, not a problem," Naruto said, a little unsure of himself. He hadn't meant to bring up something touchy. "Why, uh..." he fumbled for a new topic. "Why'd you choose to become a ninja?"

"Because it's what all the others seemed to be doing. And it seemed like something I might be good at."

"That's all?"

"Well...I guess it's because ninjas are someone to look up to. They're...they're heroes. They protect people. Give people hope. As long as you can exhibit some control over your chakra network, you can be a ninja. It's a place to go, it's a place to...to..."

"Belong?" Naruto offered.

Tsumeki though on this for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes. It's a place to belong." She looked at Naruto. "What about you?"

"Me? I wanted to become a ninja because of my parents. I'm told they were both great ninjas. They died protecting the Hokage during the Uchiha uprising."

A little light of understanding went up in Tsumeki's eyes.

Naruto went on. "Plus, the orphans...They look up to the ninjas, like you said. They idolize them. A ninja is everything an orphan could possibly dream of. And if the village has enough good ninjas, then they can stop people from dying as much. And that means there'll be less orphans. And a world with less orphans is a better world."

Tsumeki looked at him, slightly awed. "You're becoming a ninja because you want to help orphans?"

Naruto nodded. "Nobody should have to live in an orphanage. It's not impersonal, but...it's not a family, either. I mean, it can be a family, in a way, but it can never replace a mother and a father. Or even just some relative who's willing to take you in. That's why I need to be a great ninja. Because then, I can protect other ninjas, and keep them from dying, so that they can go home to their children." Naruto's eyes began to water a bit. "They can go home and say, 'I love you, son', and put them to bed..." His voice cracked a bit. "They can have lives." Naruto wiped his eyes and regained his composure after a minute.

Tsumeki was still staring at him. "That's...beautiful," she said. "That's...I don't even..." She thought for a moment. "You're a rare kind of person, Naruto."

He smiled. "Thanks."

Again, silence began to fall between them. Naruto cut it off once more. "So, how's the apartment? Versus the orphanage, I mean."

"It's...weird," she said.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it is. I've lived there my whole life. It's nice to have my own space and all, but..." he trailed off. "It's just weird."

Tsumeki nodded.

"Okay," he said, "He's got to be late by now. Do you have a watch or something? Check what time it is?"

She nodded and opened up a bag that was resting against the post beside her. She rummaged around it for a moment before pulling out a plain, metallic wristwatch. "9:20," she said.

"Late," Naruto said. "Late, late, late, he is so late." He watched as Tsumeki put the watch back into her bag. "You know that's meant to go on your wrist, right?"

For just a second, Naruto saw a small smile curl up at the corners of her mouth. "I know. But I don't want it to be damaged during whatever it is we're doing today."

"I heard it's some kind of test," Naruto said. "The Bell Test or something like that."

Tsumeki furrowed her brow. "Bell test? What are we supposed to do involving bells?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. It's just what I heard."

Silence began to creep back in, but before it could form, Tsumeki spoke. "Either way, I need to get some more sleep if I can, so could you please wake me when he gets here?"

Naruto was a bit disappointed. He was enjoying talking to Tsumeki. "Yeah. Yeah, sure, no problem."

"Thank you," she said, before slouching back down against the pole.

Naruto looked up and watched the clouds. He itched for Kakashi to get here so he could get up, move around, and do something...

Well, why wait for Kakashi?

Naruto got up and began to run through taijutsu sets. First he went through his offensive stances, then his defensive stances. He finished up with the grappling stances. When he was done with them, he went through them a second time. It had to have taken him about twenty minutes, total. Kakashi still wasn't here.

Naruto blew out a sigh of irritation before beginning a jog around the part of the training ground he was in. The training ground was big, and it took him a while to get around it once. He wasn't even breathing hard at the end, so he decided to go around again, stepping up the pace a little. He could feel his muscles waking up and starting to really work.

As he ran, his thoughts drifted to Tsumeki. Naruto felt bad for her, he really did. He didn't know what it was that had her looking so sad all the time, but he knew that he wanted to help her with it. She was his teammate, after all.

With that thought, Naruto shook his head. No, being his teammate didn't matter. This is something he really should have started doing a long time ago. He was becoming a ninja to help people; he didn't have to wait to become a ninja to start. _That was a mistake, _he thought, _and I plan to make it right by her._

After having gone around the field three times, Kakashi still hadn't arrived. Naruto sighed and looked up. Judging by the position of the sun, it was about...

_Hell, I don't know. _

Regardless of the time, Kakashi was way late, and Naruto was getting irritated. He could keep exercising, but he didn't want to tire himself out too much before the Bell Test. So, Naruto just paced around the three posts his other teammates were near.

It seemed like an eternity later when Kakashi finally arrived. He strolled into the training ground, reading his little book.

"SENSEI!" yelled Naruto, releasing a lot of the pent-up frustration that boiled up as he paced about. "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi looked up from his book. "Am I?"

Tsumeki, who had been awakened by Naruto's indignant shouting, pulled her watch out of her bag. She looked at it for a moment, a confused expression on her face. She rubbed her eyes, and then looked at it again. "It's almost 11:30, sensei."

"Hm. I'm sorry, I suppose I just got lost, wandering on the road of life..."

"What the HELL kind of excuse is that?" Naruto demanded.

"The kind I give," Kakashi said plainly, going back to his book.

The three genin all watched Kakashi for a moment, but he showed no signs of surfacing to the real world any time soon.

"Sensei? Why are we here?" asked Tsumeki quietly.

"Hm? Oh, I did call you here, didn't I?"

Naruto and Tsumeki sighed. Sasuke continued to brood.

_Prick._

Kakashi closed his book and placed it gently in his pocket. "Today, you'll be taking a test to determine if you can become genin."

"What?!" shouted Naruto. "We already did that!"

"That was a test to determine if you could take this test."

"What? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

Kakashi ignored Naruto. "Your test is to get one of these bells from me." Kakashi held up two bells on a string. "If you can get one, you get lunch. If you don't get one... Well. You'll be seeing some friends at the Academy."

Naruto and Tsumeki's eyes widened in surprise. Even Sasuke quit brooding for a moment to look alarmed.

"But there are only two bells," Naruto said.

"Exactly. Meaning one of you will be going back to the Academy."

Naruto gulped, but he steeled himself. He'd get one of the bells for himself, and do whatever he could to make sure Tsumeki was the one to get the other bell. That way, Sasuke wouldn't be on his team anymore.

"I will warn you," continued Kakashi, "even though there are two bells, this test has a sixty-six percent failure rate. In case you aren't that good at probability, it means that most likely, only one of you is actually going to be a ninja at the end of the day."

This time, the gulp was shared among the three teammates.

Kakashi set a small alarm clock on a stump. "This is set to go off at noon. You'd best hurry up and get the bells before then." Kakashi attached the string with the bells to his belt, and then pulled out his book.

"So...When do we start?" asked Naruto.

"Right now."

"But you're reading."

"So?"

Naruto grinned. "Well. This should be easy, then." He ran forward and aimed a sweeping kick at Kakashi's knees. Without any effort at all, Kakashi hopped over Naruto's leg. Naruto frowned and unleashed a full set of his best taijutsu on Kakashi. The older ninja blocked every single one of them without even looking up.

Naruto growled. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted. Four copies of him poofed into existence. All at once, they bum rushed Kakashi.

Kakashi giggled slightly at whatever he was reading before backhanding one of the Naruto clones. It flew back and popped into a cloud of smoke. Kakashi did several other kicks and punches, easily dispatching the other Naruto clones and then delivered a swift uppercut to the real Naruto's jaw, sending him flying backwards.

Naruto grunted and hoisted himself off the ground. "This isn't going to work," he muttered. He made his best speed to the edge of the forest. Sasuke, who had been watching Naruto get pummeled with a small smile on his face, did the same, heading towards the other side.

"Wait, guys," said Tsumeki. "I think we're-"

It was too late. They were already gone.

Tsumeki sighed. She looked at Kakashi. He was still reading, and didn't look like he had any plans to come after her, for the moment. Then she looked left and right, after her other teammates, and ran after Naruto after a moment of thought.

Naruto watched Kakashi from the trees. He was still reading his little book.

_What's so good about that little book, anyways?_

Naruto made a mental note to swipe it from Kakashi sometime to check it out.

From across the clearing, at the other edge of the forest, Naruto caught the glint of steel flying through the air. Several kunai and shuriken had been thrown at Kakashi's back. Their sensei made no effort to dodge. The weapons buried themselves deep in his back, and Naruto's eyes widened. A split second later, there was a poof of smoke, and where Kakashi had been a moment before, there was now only a log.

"A substitution jutsu?" Naruto said. "When?"

Naruto saw Sasuke leap backwards out of the trees, throwing more kunai back into the treeline. Kakashi followed shortly after, his book put away.

_This is perfect!_ Thought Naruto. _I just have to wait for Kakashi to put his back to me, and then I can sneak in and snatch a bell while he isn't paying attention!_

Naruto made to jump down from the tree, but there was a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto," said Tsumeki, "I think there's something else to this test."

He tore his eyes away from the fight to look at Tsumeki. "How do you mean?"

"I think it's supposed to be a teamwork thing. I was watching you fight Kakashi by yourself, and you didn't stand a chance."

"Gee, thanks," Naruto grumbled.

"Naruto, listen to me. I think we have to work together to get the bells, so we need to make a plan."

Naruto sighed. "All right. What've you got?"

* * *

Sasuke's body was now completely underground, save for his upper neck and head. Kakashi stood before him, dusting his hands off. "Good performance, Sasuke, but not quite good enough." He touched a hand to the bells at his belt, just to double check that they were still there.

"Hey! Sensei!"

Kakashi turned around to see Naruto standing out in the open. "Haven't we already done this?" he drawled.

"I wasn't warmed up last time! Now I'm ready, and I'm going to beat the crap out of you and take those bells!"

Kakashi sighed. He had been hoping that Naruto would have learned his lesson already.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" called Naruto. This time, there were ten Narutos, all charging him.

Kakashi sighed again, and he began to dodge and punch, easily dispersing a clone about every four seconds. It wasn't even a challenge. "Naruto, I hope that this time-" Kakashi looked around. There was no Naruto. "All clones?" he murmured. "Clever... but that means..."

Kakashi whirled around and did an axe kick downward, knocking a startled Tsumeki onto the ground. She hit the dirt without making a sound.

"Very good," he said. "You got behind me without me knowing, and sneaked up very well. Not well, enough, though."

Tsumeki made another desperate grab for the bells, but Kakashi smacked her hand away. Suddenly, there was a tug on his belt. Kakashi whirled around to punch...Tsumeki?

It was too late, though. She already had a grip on the bells, and they came off of Kakashi's belt with a quiet snap of string. His fist impacted with her stomach, and she flew backward. She never hit the ground, however. Naruto came out of the trees where Sasuke had been before, used Kakashi's head as a springboard, and landed in time to catch the flying girl. Tsumeki gave him a breathless smile and attempted to speak, but the wind had been totally knocked out of her. Instead, she offered up a bell. Naruto took it gratefully.

Kakashi gave them a slight applause. "Very good. You used the clones to distract me while Tsumeki came up behind me." he looked at the ground again, and Tsumeki was no longer there. "How'd you go about doing that bit, anyways?"

The girl, now back on her feet and breathing properly, spoke. "It was just a little genjutsu. I didn't do the sound part right, though. I could tell she didn't make any noise like I had wanted her to, when she hit the ground."

Kakashi nodded. "And you sneaked up behind me again while I was dealing with your genjutsu. Well done, by the way, I didn't even think to check for genjutsu from fresh academy students."

Tsumeki smiled, blushing slightly. "Thank you," she said, a little more confidently than usual.

"And I'm assuming the real Naruto was a reserve in case your actual attempt at the bells failed?"

Naruto nodded. "I was about to come down from the trees as soon as you axe kicked the genjutsu, but Tsumeki already had her hands on the bells."

"Well done, then. And without a minute to spare," Kakashi noted, as the alarm could be heard from its stump on the other end of the training field.

A moment later found Sasuke tied to a post while Kakashi provided the other two with a small meal. "Eat up. But don't give Sasuke any, or you'll fail the test anyways. I have to go and check on something really quick. I'll be back in five or ten minutes." With that, Kakashi had teleported away.

Naruto took a few bites of his food. It wasn't very good. Still, it was food. He scarfed a few more bites down before looking at Tsumeki.

She was offering her food to Sasuke.

"Here, quickly, eat this. I brought my own food."

The Uchiha seemed leery, at first, but an angry growling from his stomach convinced him to take the food.

Naruto looked at his own dish. _Well. I guess he does need to eat, and I had a big dinner last night, so I'm not _that _hungry..._ Naruto grudgingly got up and placed the dish near Sasuke. "Here."

Sasuke managed to work the chopsticks somewhat with his feet and started to eat clumsily. Tsumeki was eating a small sandwich she had brought. She looked at Naruto, who was just sitting there and watching the clouds, before she dug in her bag a bit. She withdrew an apple and a bag of chips.

"Naruto, here. Take these."

"Hm? What? Oh, no, thanks. I had a big dinner last night, and I don't want to take your lunch."

"No, please. You need to eat."

Naruto's stomach did rumble a bit, and so he conceded. It was a good apple.

All of a sudden, in a poof of rage and smoke, Kakashi was back. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU TO DO?!"

All three genin let out a small, "Meep!"

"WELL?!"

"N-not to give Sasuke any food?" Tsumeki said, nervously.

"AND WHAT DID YOU GO AND DO?!"

"Gave him food," Naruto said, slightly scared.

Sasuke managed not to choke on the food that had been in his mouth and swallowed it.

"And WHY did you give him food, even though I SPECIFICALLY told you not to?!"

"Because he needed to eat," Tsumeki said, sounding less scared than before. "We couldn't just let him go hungry."

Kakashi nodded. "Good. You all pass."

"Wha- H-hang on, what?" stammered Naruto.

"I thought you said one of us was going to fail," said Sasuke.

"I did," Kakashi said, "But I lied. This was a teamwork exercise, and even though Sasuke failed to get a bell, it seems he – and you two, as well – have finally grasped the purpose of this test. Teamwork." The older ninja cut Sasuke down from his post. "Now, we're done for the day. Tomorrow, you will meet me outside the Hokage tower at noon for our first mission assignment."

"All right!" said Naruto. "Our first mission!"

Tsumeki smiled slightly. Sasuke got up and continued to eat the food his teammates had given him, though he watched Kakashi as he ate.

"Before you go, though, let me leave you with this: Those who break the rules are scum. Those who leave their teammates behind, however, are lower than scum. Your team should be as important to you as yourself." Kakashi took out his book again. "Dismissed." With that, he disappeared.

Naruto finished the food Tsumeki gave him. "Thank you, Tsumeki."

She smiled. "Of course. Couldn't have you going hungry, either."

"Well, see you guys tomorrow," Naruto said, waving behind him as he walked away.

"Wait, Naruto," Tsumeki called.

He stopped and turned around. She had run over to where he was. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say...thank you. For talking to me. It's nice to have a friend to talk to."

Naruto grinned. "Of course, no problem." He clapped her on the shoulder. "You come and talk to me whenever you need to, all right? I'm rarely doing anything important."

She smiled at him. "Thank you. It means a lot."

Then, Tsumeki did something Naruto never would have expected.

She hugged him.

Naruto stood there for a second, surprised and unsure of how to proceed. Then, he slowly and awkwardly hugged her back.

She broke off the hug first. "See you tomorrow," she said, going back for her bag.

"Yeah...see you."

* * *

**All right! Here's the chapter! It came out a lot longer than I expected it to. I also didn't expect to have three and a half pages just on the visit to Ichiraku. That part just flowed, man. It flowed. **

**So! You might have a few questions, so we'll recap here:**

**Kyuubi never attacked Konoha. The deaths that would have been caused by Kyuubi were caused by the Uchiha uprising, which orphaned Naruto. **

**Yes, this also means there is no demon sealed in Naruto. However, I'm still having him retain the traits it gave him, such as his endurance, huge chakra reserve, his relative lack of chakra control, etc. We're attributing them to natural development now, is all. Also, he still has whiskers. Just because it's Naruto and he needs them. **

**Naruto is a bit less obnoxious because he grew up in the orphanage. As I stated, they started to get really full, so he started having to take on more responsibilities than normal, so he's more developed as far as maturity goes. **

**Also, his lack of abuse and torment because of Kyuubi is nonexistent, meaning that he isn't the village pariah and has never been hated, abused, etc. In case you didn't get it, he has the same sort of devotion to the village because of his experiences in the orphanage. He wants to make the village a better place by reducing the number of admittances to the orphanage. Or something like that.**

**And, finally, if any of you are freaking out about Tsumeki (who is obviously Kyuubi) not paralleling her in the other Kyuubi-chan, just wait until next chapter. All will be revealed. **

**If you have any questions that I didn't answer, as always, feel free to leave them in a review or send me a PM. I'll try to update somewhat regularly, but with college kicking me in the rear, I might not be able to hold to that. Be strong; I'm back until I'm done with this story, at least, even if it does take me a while to finish it.**

**I apologize for the excessively long author's notes this chapter. I just wanted to clear up things that might cause reader confusion. That said, I'll conclude this. Thanks for reading, everyone.**


	2. Training Session

**So, I hate to disappoint you guys, but the mission to the Wave country will not be featured in this fic. In the past, I have tried it, and it hasn't worked. I expect it will be no different for Tsumeki-chan, and so a different C-ranked mission will be introduced. You'll recognize it as a more detailed rendition of the one from Kyuubi-chan, if you're familiar with that one. **

**Also, I'd like to do a quick shout out to "Fan", an anonymous reviewer who brought up a good point. Fan tells me that I'm missing an important part of the team 7 dynamic, being Sasuke's prodigyness, and that Sasuke isn't weak. My response is this: I know he's not weak. And I apologize if that's the impression my writing gave. The reason he failed was because he was taking on Kakashi alone instead of with the rest of the team. I'll do better to make sure that it doesn't come across that way in the future. Also, Tha Golden Boy brings up a good point: I left a plot hole in my story, because there's a question as to when exactly the retaliatory strike against the Uchiha happened directly after the Fourth Hokage's death or seven years later, which would have been when Sasuke would have been seven. I'm going to go ahead and say that it was seven years later, with more details possibly pending. I need to think on it and figure out how exactly I want to patch the hole. Thanks for the heads up on that one. **

**Anyways. I'm sure you're sick of listening to me talk. Sorry for doing another half-page author's note. Without further ado, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

_Three months later_

"Naruto, you're awfully quiet. You usually complain about D-rank missions," noted Kakashi.

Naruto was smiling, looking up at the clouds. "Yeah, well. I don't mind helping out at the orphanage. Especially with something as important as that."

On the top floor of the orphanage, the roof over one of the bunk rooms had collapsed. Fortunately, the creaking before the collapse had alerted several of the older orphans enough in advance that they were able to evacuate the room before it caved in, and nobody was harmed. There were twenty orphans now sleeping in various other parts of the orphanage which really weren't meant to be used as bedrooms. The mission their team had been assigned was to remove the debris from the room so that the village's carpenters and masons could patch up the roof and walls and make the room livable again.

Tsumeki smiled. "They really need help, whenever they can get it. And we're more than happy to give it."

"Speak for yourself," grumbled Sasuke. The menial labor of D-rank missions got to him as much as it did to Naruto, if not more, but Sasuke didn't care about the orphanage like his blonde-haired compatriot did. Really, he didn't care about much of anything outside of himself.

_Asshole._

At the moment, they were walking to the Hokage Tower to report their mission as completed and receive their payment. Naruto and Tsumeki walked together, but Sasuke was on the other side of Kakashi, trying to separate himself from the other two as best as possible.

Over the past three months, Naruto and Tsumeki had grown to be very close friends. Not a day went by, even when they had no team events or missions to do, where they didn't carve out some time to talk and hang out. Having Naruto to talk to was doing wonders for Tsumeki. She no longer had her permanently sad expression on; in fact, she was often caught smiling, now. It seemed that being reassured by Naruto that she wasn't different had helped her break out of her introverted shell. Now, she was making friends with other genin, especially the kunoichi. She was also being a good influence on Hinata Hyuuga, who was as shy as the day was long. Hinata and Tsumeki were often seen together when the latter wasn't with Naruto, practicing taijutsu and ninjutsu at the Hyuuga compound.

Naruto smiled. He was happy for Tsumeki. Making new friends was good for her. We remembered his feeling of elation when she started smiling (actually smiling, too, not just a twitch at the corner of her mouth) regularly. He didn't like seeing anyone sad, but especially Tsumeki. Naruto wasn't sure if this was because she was on his team, or because she was his close friend, or what, but he didn't put too much thought into it. That she was happy was all that really mattered.

He never had figured out what was on her mind that day on the Academy roof. She had never broken down into almost crying again, and Naruto remembered Ayame's advice. He wouldn't be bringing it up until she did. He wanted her to continue to feel comfortable around him, and trying to crack open her emotions wouldn't be conducive to that endeavor.

They reached the Hokage Tower and made their way up to the Hokage's office. When they reached the door, Kakashi knocked three times.

"Come in," came the Hokage's voice.

Kakashi opened the door. "Team Seven, reported mission complete."

"Mmm. Yes, that was the orphanage, wasn't it?" The Third Hokage looked at Naruto and Tsumeki and smiled. The two genin returned the gesture, beaming brightly.

"Yes, sir," Kakashi said.

"Very well. As a D-rank mission, you'll receive the usual payment." The Hokage stamped their mission form and handed it to Kakashi. "Turn this into the secretary, as always. I'll have another mission for you all in a day or two."

"Uhmm...Hokage?" said Tsumeki nervously.

Everyone in the room was looking at her. "Yes?" the Hokage asked.

"We were wondering...if...uhm..." Tsumeki blushed from everyone staring at her. "Well, we've been doing D-ranks for three months now. We were wondering if we could maybe...get a...a C-rank?"

The Hokage shook his head. "No, I don't believe you're ready for a C-rank. You're barely genin, after all."

"Aw, c'mon, old man!" said Naruto in exasperation. "If I have to rake another lawn or, god forbid, catch that cat again, I might actually have to kill myself."

"Naruto," said the Hokage, "I do not believe that you or your team are ready for a C-rank mission."

"Why not?" asked Naruto. "We're all good at taijutsu, and we all have something else to back it up! Tsumeki has genjutsu, Sasuke has lots of ninjutsu, and I..." _What _do _I have? _"...I have the Shadow Clone jutsu, and lots of chakra to go with it." It seemed a lame consolation prize when put up against the other two.

If the Hokage noticed Naruto's doubt and hesitation, he gave no sign of it. "You do make a good point, Naruto. As far as genin go, your team is quite exceptional. I will think on it. You'll know in a day or two."

Tsumeki's face split in a wide grin, and even Sasuke smiled somewhat. Kakashi gave no indication that he knew what was going on, as he had his face in his book again. Naruto, however, drew no joy from this. He was too busy thinking over his realization.

_All I have is that one jutsu. What else can I lay claim to?_

Naruto followed the others out of the room as they were dismissed, and continued to walk, deep in thought, after they left the Hokage building.

Tsumeki jogged up next to him, having stopped to talk to the receptionist in the tower. "Heya, Naruto."

"Hey," he said.

"So, got any plans for today?"

"Not really."

Tsumeki frowned. Something was obviously bothering him. "What's on your mind?"

Naruto exhaled heavily through his nose. "I don't have any special abilities."

She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"You have Genjutsu, Sasuke has all sorts of advanced Ninjutsu...and I have Shadow Clones."

"But that's a great jutsu. It's very advanced; you had to get it off of the scroll, for crying out loud."

"But it's not everything. I need to know more than just one jutsu."

Tsumeki looked at him for a moment. "All right then." She took him by the hand and started walking.

Naruto was jerked out of thought by the sudden pull on his arm. "Wha- Hey, where are we going?"

"The library. We're going to find you something."

"Right now?"

"Yeah, right now. After all, you don't have any plans today, right?"

Naruto didn't respond. He just let Tsumeki drag him along to the library.

In the library was a wing dedicated entirely to ninjas, full of scrolls on ninjutsu of all sorts, as well as smaller sections dedicated to genjutsu, healing jutsu, and other highly specialized techniques. Naruto and Tsumeki were allowed access, as they openly wore their headbands.

"All right," Tsumeki said as they entered the cavernous room. "Let's see what we can find."

This wing of the library was divided into two sections. There was the main section, which housed the many scrolls and books on the various subjects covered, and then there was a training section, which was a series of small rooms meant for practicing quieter, less destructive techniques. The main room had bookshelves covering every inch of the walls, as well as a maze of stand-alone bookcases in the middle of the room. There were three levels, but the upper two were only catwalks for accessing the bookshelves located higher on the walls. From the entrance, Naruto could see several ninjas browsing on the upper catwalks.

"Where to start, where to start," murmured Tsumeki. "Any input, Naruto?"

"I don't know, there's so much..."

"Then let's go this way!" she said, leading him down a row of bookshelves. "It looks like these are mostly fire jutsus. What do you think about those?"

"Uhm...No, Sasuke uses a lot of those. I don't want it to look like I'm copying that bastard."

"All right then." She dragged him down the aisle more. "Lightning type, maybe?"

"Tsumeki, I'm pretty sure these elemental type jutsu require a lot of chakra control."

"Hmmm, you're right. You don't do that whole control thing. That really cuts down on your options, Naruto. Maybe you should work on that more."

"Look, I'm trying, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." She continued to browse, occasionally looking at the plaques bearing the name of the section the bookshelf in question was a part of. "Oh, look, Naruto, medical jutsu! You'd be _great_ at that!" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Har har har. Hardy har. Har. ...Har. You're hysterical, congratulations."

"You should be thanking me. I'm taking time out of my day to help you do this."

"Like you had anything better to do."

Tsumeki looked at him. "How do you know I didn't? Maybe I've canceled plans with Hinata to come and do this."

"You didn't talk with her before we came, that's how I know."

"Ahh, but perhaps, young genin, I am psychic, and knew you would have a midweek crisis before we even came here, so I preemptively canceled my plans."

"Well, that'd be a possibility, but you're not psychic, so I think I'm safe."

Tsumeki scoffed and spun on her heel, marching down the row.

And so the process went on. Naruto sighed. It hadn't been long before the entire first floor had been ruled out. It was mostly elemental jutsu, with some genjutsu mixed in towards the back. They lowered the ladder down from the second level and climbed up.

"I don't know, Tsu, maybe there's just nothing here for me."

"Nonsense. Sure, it's not every jutsu ever created, but there's so much here. There has to be one thing, if only one thing, that interests you. What about more taijutsu?"

"I don't know. I like taijutsu, but I'm not sure if I want to call that my specialty."

"Fair enough. But, that does give us ground to work with. You like physical stuff, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well then, let's find something physical that will work well with your Shadow Clones. You know, so that they don't burn their chakra too fast, maybe you get more out of them."

"I get what you're saying, but I'm not sure what that might be."

"Howsabout kenjutsu?" Tsumeki said, pulling a scroll out of a cubby.

"Swordwork? I don't know anything about it."

She rolled her eyes. "Which is why we're here. Duuhhhh."

Naruto pushed her arm. "Shut up. What've you got?"

"Well. It looks like kenjutsu is going to be like taijutsu with a sword. From what I'm reading off of this scroll, it looks like there are a lot of different stances and whatnot, depending on your situation. Just like taijutsu. You would fall right into this."

"Well, yeah, but...I don't know. We'll keep it in mind, I guess, but let's keep looking."

Tsumeki sighed and rolled up the scroll. "You are _such_ a drag. I thought I finally had something for you and you just say, 'I'll think about it,' like an asshole." Her quote of him made him sound like an idiot.

"Cut it out," Naruto laughed, pushing her again.

"Stop pushing me," she countered, pushing him back.

"Make me," he said, shoving her once more.

"Hey, you two! Be quiet, this is a library!" came a hushed voice.

Naruto and Tsumeki turned to see an angry looking man. "Sorry," they said in unison.

He grumbled irritably and turned to walk the other way.

Tsumeki planted her hands on her hips, screwed her face up into a mockery of the man's, and lowered her voice. "Blah blah blah, you teenagers. Damn city folk and their flyin' machines. Blah blah blah."

Naruto covered his mouth to muffle the snicker that was escaping. Tsumeki smiled, and they continued down the catwalk.

Tsumeki read the section names as they went down. "Taijutsu...taijutsu...more kenjutsu...taijutsu...what's this?"

Naruto bumped into her as she suddenly stopped. "What?"

The redhead pointed at a particular cubby hole. "This one. It says, 'Chakra Flow (Weapon)'."

Naruto reached over her and pulled out one of the scrolls inside the cubby. He unfurled it and began to read. "Woah. Way cool."

"What is it?"

"It says you can channel chakra into most metals to make them...I don't know, stronger, I guess. Get this: 'Chakra Flow, in this instance, refers to the channeling of chakra into a bladed weapon to accomplish one of three tasks: One, to make the weapon more effective at cutting, stabbing, etc. Two, to extend the reach of the weapon by using solidified chakra. And three, to add additional effects to the weapon's blade by using elemental chakra to augment the way the chakra interacts with the weapon.'"

"Woah, that _is _cool. And it works perfectly with kenjutsu." She elbowed Naruto. "Hint, hint, Naruto. Kenjutsu."

"Yeah, I get it, I get it. It doesn't look like there's much here on chakra flow, though. Maybe we should ask Kakashi about it?"

"That's not a bad idea. We should still see what they have, though."

"Yeah, for sure."

Naruto returned the scroll he had to the cubby and pulled out another. Tsumeki grabbed a smaller one from the back. Naruto's scroll discussed the different properties bestowed upon a blade when imbued with elemental chakra. As it was, Naruto was really hoping he would be able to use Wind chakra. The scroll said that Wind chakra allowed for the most cutting power, and it was not uncommon for blades imbued with Wind chakra to cut right through thick stone, and sometimes even metal, with relative ease.

"Uh-oh. Bad news, Naruto."

"What?"

"It looks like Chakra Flow might require a decent bit of control."

Naruto growled in irritation. "Well, screw it. I guess I'm just going to have to get better at chakra control." He looked up from the scroll, and Tsumeki was staring at him blankly. "Tsu?"

Her eyes suddenly focused back in. "Huh? What? Did you say something?"

Naruto looked at her skeptically. "No...are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. Why?"

"No reason." Naruto put the scroll back. "I guess we'll just ask Kakashi about chakra flow tomorrow, during the training session."

"You should ask about learning kenjutsu, too. He might know someone who can teach you."

"Yeah. Just in case, though..." Naruto went back to where Tsumeki had found the kenjutsu scrolls and took a few that looked like they were at a beginner level. "I'll need to buy myself a bokken."

"Well, then, let's head over to the market."

Naruto and Tsumeki climbed back down to the first level. "Front desk first, though," he said, holding up the scrolls. "I want to check these out."

They swung by the front desk, and Naruto presented the scrolls to the librarian.

She checked each scroll individually. "Name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

The librarian checked her computer. "Genin. Yes, you have sufficient rank to check out all of these scrolls. They'll be due back in two weeks. If you're sent on an extended mission and would like to hang on to them for the duration, please return and inform us so that we may make note of that." She placed each scroll in its own wooden scroll case, and then handed them back to Naruto. "Always make sure that the scrolls are properly closed in their case when the weather is bad and when you are not using them."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, okay." He accepted the scrolls from the librarian, and he and Tsumeki left the library.

* * *

_The Next Day_

Naruto woke in a cold sweat. He didn't remember what he had been dreaming about, but it hadn't been pleasant. He rubbed his eyes, and then looked out the window. It was still dark out. _Whatever it was, _he thought, _I'm not chancing falling back into it. Looks like I'm up for the day. _

Naruto climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, throwing off his pajamas on the way there. He turned on the shower and sat on the toilet lid as he waited for it to get warm. _What was it? I haven't woken up sweating like this in years._

With a gasp, Naruto jerked his head up. He had nodded off, and almost fell back into the nightmare. "Ugh, how long was I out?" he murmured, getting off of the toilet. He tested his hand under the water. It was ice cold. "Terrific. Looks like I'm out of hot water." Naruto braced himself and hopped into the shower. He immediately winced. "Sweet mother of god, that's cold!" he said, fully awake. Naruto washed himself in record time and hopped out of the shower before he even grabbed his towel. He dried himself off and opened the bathroom door. Immediately, he shielded his eyes. He must have been half-asleep on the toilet for a while, because it was daytime.

Naruto made his way to his clock by memory, as the light was still too intense for him to actually be able to see. Once he was there, he lifted the alarm up to his eyes, using it to block his view of the window and the angry light streaming in from it. 9:43. _Kakashi told us we were meeting at eleven. I still have time._ Naruto dressed himself and went to the kitchen. He didn't feel like cooking today, so he opted for a bowl of cereal instead.

As he ate, Naruto's gaze flickered to the four scroll cases stacked together on his counter, as well as the newly-bought bokken leaning up against it. _I need to remember to bring those to the training session today, _he thought. _And I need to ask Kakashi about Chakra Flow. _Naruto was excited about what he and Tsumeki had discovered at the library yesterday. He knew that a knowledge of kenjutsu wasn't uncommon among ninja, but not very many used it as a specialty – at least, not that he knew of. Any ninja that mastered the art of kenjutsu, however, had a knack for going down in the history books, like the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Or, if not the history books, than at least the Bingo book. The thought made Naruto grin. He wouldn't mind showing up in an enemy nation's Bingo book one bit.

Naruto picked up his bowl and slurped up the last of the milk. He stood up, wiping his face on his sleeve, and started collecting his things for the day. _Kunai and shuriken pouch, _he thought, picking it up and hooking it onto his belt. _Scrolls. _He put them into a drawstring backpack and put the backpack on. _And let's not forget the bokken. _On his way to the door, he picked it up with his right hand and tossed it to his left. He turned out the lights and left the apartment.

Naturally, the first thing Naruto planned to do was meet up with Tsumeki. If she wasn't at the door to his apartment complex, he'd head over to hers, which was just a little down the street and around the corner. He speedwalked down the stairs, skipping the last step before each landing and the floor. He left the stairwell to enter the main lobby, where things were surprisingly busy.

"'Scuse me. Pardon me. Sorry, sir. Sorry. Excuse me."

He opened the door out of the apartment building to find Tsumeki leaning against the wall and snickering.

"What? What's so funny?"

With a renewed fit of giggling, she snapped her fingers and pointed into the apartment lobby.

Naruto turned around to look. It was empty, and the receptionist was looking at him like he was an idiot. "Oh, Tsumeki, that was just mean."

She was now done giggling, and had proceeded to all-out laughing. "Oh," she said, wiping a tear from her eye, "Oh, but it was so funny to watch you shuffle through it."

Naruto walked past her, holding up one arm in a 'talk to the hand' gesture.

The laughing redhead jogged up next to him and matched his pace. "Aw, who's a Mr. Grumpy Pants today?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, but didn't respond.

"Is it Naruto? I think it's Naruto. Is Naruto a Mr. Grumpy Pants today?" She pushed her shoulder up against him, lay her head on his shoulder, and looked up at him sideways.

Naruto struggled against laughter, and he was winning.

Tsumeki crossed her eyes.

Naruto couldn't contain the laughter after that. Tsumeki lifted her head and took a step to the side, giving him some space.

"You're so weird, Tsu."

"_I'm_ weird, Mr. Frog Wallet?" She looked at him, a grin on her face.

"Yes, _you're _weird." He put his hand on her face (it was so large that you almost couldn't see her face behind it) and pushed slightly.

"Get your hand off of my face," she laughed.

When Naruto refused to comply, she started licking it. "Aw, okay, now that just feels way too weird," he said, wiping his hand on his pants.

Their walk to the training ground continued to look something like this as they made their way through the winding streets of the city and went outside the walls.

Training ground forty-one was, as usual, empty when they got there, except for Sasuke. The Uchiha was practicing his taijutsu sets.

"Morning, Sasuke!" called Tsumeki, like she did every morning.

Like every morning, Sasuke ignored her and continued his sets.

"Dickweed," Naruto mumbled.

"Stop it," said Tsumeki. "Just because he's a dick doesn't mean you have to point it out every time."

Slightly irritated, Naruto ignored the statement. Tsumeki sighed. Naruto dropped the drawstring bag near one of the three posts and leaned his bokken up against it. "So, what first, Tsumeki?"

"Three laps around the grounds?"

"Last one to finish buys dinner?"

"You're on."

In the end, Naruto ended up losing by the space of a few seconds to Tsumeki. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Ha ha! You're buying me dinner!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. "You be quiet. If you hadn't tripped me, I would have won."

"Tripped you? I never tripped you, you tripped over your own clumsy feet, you doofus!"

"Whatever. Double or nothing on taijutsu."

"Ha, any day of the week, princess," Tsumeki teased.

Naruto dropped into a fast-paced offensive stance and began throwing a barrage of punches at Tsumeki. She didn't block a single one of them. Instead, she ducked, dodged, and sidestepped her way out of them, slowly maneuvering herself to Naruto's left. Naruto sent two more punches her way, and to readjust to the new angle, he threw a roundhouse kick, using the pivot to line himself back up with Tsumeki. The girl didn't dodge nor block the kick. Instead, she walked forward into Naruto's guard, inside the kick, grabbed the back of his knee, and pushed up. Naruto was thrown off balance, but managed to turn his fall into a backward roll. He ended on his feet and tried to reassume his previous stance. Tsumeki didn't give him the chance. She pressed him, throwing light punches. Naruto blocked most of them, but Tsumeki was fast on a whole different level. He had trouble keeping up with all of her movements, and soon, she had his back pressed up against a post. She threw another punch, and Naruto ducked.

Her fist hit the post, leaving a small dent. "Ow," she said reflexively.

Naruto swept at her legs, attempting to knock her over, but she jumped over his leg. Naruto turned the motion into a springing jump, and he made contact with Tsumeki's stomach with his shoulder. He heard the wind get knocked out of her lungs. They hit the ground and tumbled. Naruto landed first, however, and he lost his breath as well. The roll ended with Tsumeki on top. By this time, she had managed to recover enough breath to put her forearm firmly on Naruto's throat.

"I..." she breathed, "...win."

Naruto tried to push her off of him, but he didn't have enough strength to do so, and he started to see black dots on the edge of his vision. He tapped Tsumeki's arm twice, and she let go.

They sat on the ground for a moment, leaning against each other, before Tsumeki suddenly leaped to her feet. "Wohoo! You're buying me lunch AND dinner! Hahaa!" She began to do a victory dance.

Naruto laughed breathlessly and shook his head. "What...whatever," he panted.

She stopped dancing, a smile splitting her face, and offered Naruto her hand. He took it, and she helped him stand up. "Let's take a look at your kenjutsu scrolls now. Sound good?"

Naruto nodded, inhaling a large breath. "All right. Yeah, all right, I'm good."

Tsumeki took a scroll out of its case and opened it. "This one looks like it's a defensive stance. Look, all of the pictures are of a guy blocking and parrying."

Naruto looked over her shoulder. "Yeah, that's what it looks like." He grabbed his bokken. "Show me the scroll. I want to copy the stance."

Tsumeki moved a bit away from him to give him space to move, and then turned the scroll toward him.

Naruto took up the stance shown in the first picture. He held the blade low and held the hilt close to his waist, the blade pointed up. He copied the foot positioning and held the stance. It was actually comfortable; the bokken didn't seem to weigh as much, the way he was holding it.

Tsumeki looked at the scroll again. "It says here that this is a stance you'd use against other swordsmen. This one here," she said, pointing, "says that it's primary use is deflecting kunai and shuriken."

And so, until Kakashi finally arrived, Tsumeki help Naruto get the basic positioning of each stance on the scrolls down. She made him keep doing it until he could do the stance without looking at the picture, and until he could tell her which stance was for what.

He wasn't _as_ late this time. He showed up at 12:30, instead of the usual three hours late that he was. As always, Kakashi entered the training ground, he had his face buried in his book.

"Good afternoon, sensei," Tsumeki called, before Naruto had a chance to say anything stupid.

Kakashi looked up for a moment. "Good-" He paused for the briefest moment when he saw Naruto with the bokken. "-afternoon." He then went back to reading his book. "Learning kenjutsu, Naruto?"

"Yeah, I am." Naruto sounded very proud of himself.

Sasuke stopped working with his fire jutsus for a moment to come towards Kakashi.

"Just remember. Knowing the stance and actually being able to use it are two completely different things. You're going to need a partner to train with."

Naruto's enthusiasm flagged for a moment. "Yeah, I figured as much."

"I just came to tell you that we aren't doing anything today, so you don't need to be here. You can have the day off."

Sasuke didn't seem to care. "Whatever. I would have been training anyways." He turned around and went back to his grassless area in the middle of the training ground to continue practicing his jutsus.

Tsumeki covered her face with her palm and sighed. "Yeah, that's fine. We probably would have been doing the same."

"Well, good. I'll see you all tomorrow." Kakashi turned to leave.

"Sensei, hang on a second!" called Naruto.

Kakashi stopped, but didn't look back.

"Do you know anything about chakra flow? Like, with weapons?"

Kakashi turned around and looked at Naruto. "Is that why you're trying to learn kenjutsu?"

"Yeah, I – that is, me and Tsumeki were in the library yesterday, and we found some scrolls on Chakra Flow. There wasn't much, but it sounded interesting."

Kakashi nodded, though Naruto got the impression that it was more to himself than anything. "Yes, I know some about chakra flow. It's a very useful skill. Most ninja learn how to use it at some point in their career..."

Naruto was a bit disappointed by that statement. He thought he had found something more unique.

"...but very few actually use it on a regular basis."

This re-encouraged him somewhat.

"There is one thing you should know, though, before you proceed with learning it. While it is an exceptionally useful skill and can give you an advantage in a fight, especially against another swordsman, it is not an end-all ability. You're going to want to make sure to spend some time learning new jutsus to add to your repertoire." Kakashi thought for a moment. "Chakra Flow also requires a decent amount of control, so you're going to need to work on that."

"But...how do I do that? I mean, control isn't something I really ever managed to grasp with the academy jutsus."

The sensei sighed. "You've seen ninjas walking on walls before, haven't you?"

"Uh...I think so?"

"I have, sensei," said Tsumeki.

"Perhaps we are going to do something today. Sasuke! Come back over here!"

Sasuke stopped in the middle of a particularly impressive fireball jutsu and came to the area the rest of the team was gathered in once more. "What?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"We're going to do a chakra control exercise today," Kakashi said. "Follow me."

He led them to the edge of the forest. "Each of you stand in front of a different tree." When they had followed his directions, he told them, "I want you to climb these trees without using your hands."

"But how, sensei? I don't know how to do that," protested Naruto.

"It's easy, idiot," Sasuke said. "You just focus chakra in your feet."

"Precisely," said Kakashi. "Focus your chakra in the soles of your feet, and you can walk right up the tree." Kakashi demonstrated this and strolled right up the tree, effortlessly and without any use of hands. "Now, all of you try. Make it to the top of your tree and then stand there on the trunk."

Tsumeki took a running start at her tree. She actually made it a decent way up before her foot slipped off the bark and she fell to the ground. Sasuke started up his, but he must have used too much chakra or something, because he blasted off of the tree and left a sizable hole in the bark. Naruto gulped and ran at his tree. His foot made contact with the tree, and he took another step, but then his control failed and he fell off of the tree, not even three feet off of the ground.

"This is hard," Naruto said.

"Maybe for you," Sasuke said. He ran up the tree again, with better results than before. He still lost his grip, but this time, there wasn't an explosion of chakra.

Tsumeki ran up her tree again, and she actually made it to the top, but she couldn't hold on to the chakra well enough to stand there, so she had to run back down the tree. "I think I'm getting it," she said, excitement evident in her voice.

"I expect all of you to have this down by the end of the week, if not sooner," said Kakashi, descending from his tree and pulling his book back out. "Remember, meet here the same time tomorrow." With that reminder, Kakashi left the training ground.

Naruto ran at the tree again, and he was met with more success than the last time. He made it five steps up the tree before falling. "Damn it!"

"Come on, Naruto, keep trying! You can do it!" Tsumeki yelled. She was at the top of her tree again, but she still couldn't hold on. She had to run back down it again.

Sasuke made it to the top of his tree, too. He almost fell off, but he caught a branch on his way down and was able to safely get down to the ground by going from branch to branch. "Five steps? Really?"

"Shut up, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.

"Your chakra control is terrible, Naruto. You can't even make it to the first branch!"

"I know, Sasuke, now shut the hell up and go die in a hole!"

"Naruto!" snapped Tsumeki, who was sitting on a branch, taking a quick rest. "Be nice!"

Naruto looked at her incredulously. "Do you hear -"

"Yes, Naruto, I do. Be a better person."

Naruto grumbled at Tsumeki, but listened to her and ignored Sasuke. _Focus, _he thought. _Just envision the chakra going down to your feet. Now, make it go down to your feet. Just like that. _He ran at the tree again. This time, he made it to the first branch, but he still lost his grip on the tree and fell.

Sasuke seemed to actually be losing progress as Naruto gained it. While his first attempt wasn't repeating itself, Sasuke was suddenly having difficulty reaching the top of his tree again.

_I'll beat him, _Naruto thought. _I'll get to the top of the tree and stay there before he can. _With determination serving to redouble his efforts, Naruto ran at the tree again. While he didn't even come close to the top, he at least matched the progress Tsumeki had made on her first attempt before he fell.

Tsumeki, who had managed to stick to her tree for about five seconds before losing her grip this time, clapped at Naruto. "Good job! You're getting the hang of it!"

Naruto got up, dusted himself off, and looked up at the tree. _I've got this._

* * *

Naruto and Tsumeki left the training ground together. Naruto felt a few bruises coming on, but they wouldn't last long. He was a quick healer.

"You've almost got it down, Naruto," Tsumeki said. "I think another solid day of working at it like this will be all you need."

"I think you're right. I'm glad Kakashi showed us that exercise; my chakra control has gotten loads better just today. Or at least, I think it has."

Tsumeki noddeed. "It definitely has. You'll be on your way to Chakra Flow in no time."

"I think I want to get at least some kenjutsu down first. You know, at least have an idea of what I'm doing. With something that powerful, I wouldn't want to be inexperienced with my weapon. I could cut my leg off or something."

She laughed. "Oh, you so would. If anyone would cut their own leg off, it'd be you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You got the time?"

Tsumeki checked her watch. "4:27."

"A bit late for lunch."

"Mmm. Probably. You can just buy me breakfast tomorrow, then."

Naruto groaned. "What? Morning things? I hate mornings."

"Oh, don't be such a baby." They passed through Konoha's gates. "I'm going to go back to my apartment to shower and change. You can pick me up for dinner at six."

"Where am I taking you?"

Tsumeki put her hands in her pockets. "I dunno. I guess I'll figure that out for you when we're ready."

"Please don't pick anywhere too expensive."

The smaller girl looked at Naruto. "Please. I'm on the same paycheck you are. I know what you can afford." She thought on that for a moment. "Perhaps we should just get a nice piece of cardboard."

"Oh, shut up." Naruto pushed her.

"Do you really want to go there again?"

"Yes, I do." He pushed her again.

Tsumeki laughed and pushed Naruto. He had to pull off some fancy footwork to dodge a grocery-laden woman. "Watch where you're going, Naruto! You're such a klutz!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her.

"Oh, a six year old's insult! I feel faint!"

"Shut up, Tsu."

"Make me."

"All right, I will!" Naruto moved toward Tsumeki purposefully.

She laughed. "Only if you can catch me!" She took off down the street running.

Naruto made sure the drawstring bag was situated on his back before giving chase. They went down the winding streets of Konoha, weaving in and out of the pedestrian traffic.

"You'll never take me alive!" Tsumeki shouted over her shoulder.

Naruto laughed and chased her around the corner. They were right in front of her apartment building. Tsumeki had stopped outside the door and was laughing heartily.

"I'm going inside now," she said after she had gotten herself under control. "Remember. Pick me up at six."

"I know, I know, I'll be here at seven sharp."

Tsumeki laughed again and punched Naruto's shoulder. "Six, you dork. I'll see you then."

Naruto grinned and started to walk toward his own apartment. He was lucky to have a friend like Tsumeki, and he was very glad that they were placed on the same team. He had friends, but very few were anywhere near as close as he and Tsumeki had become, and he very much enjoyed hanging out with her.

"Oops, sorry, excuse me," Naruto said. He had been lost in thought and had accidentally hit someone with the flat of his bokken's blade.

"Oh, it's no worry at all, young man," said the elderly gentleman as he continued on his way.

Still, even though Naruto and Tsumeki were very good friends, she hadn't opened up to him completely. She hadn't told him what had been on her mind that day on the academy roof, nor had she really gone into her past. That was okay, though. Friends didn't have to share every detail of their lives with their friends. He hoped that she would tell him, so that he could help her, but if she didn't, that was fine. It was her choice.

Naruto entered his apartment building. The receptionist looked at him oddly. Naruto remembered the events of the morning and grinned sheepishly. "My friend had put me under a genjutsu. It made me think that the room was full." When the receptionist made no sign of understanding what he was talking about, he continued. "A genjutsu is like an illusion that directly affects your brain." Still, the receptionist stared at him with the same, 'are you crazy' look as she had been. Naruto ducked into the stairwell.

Once in his room, Naruto stripped off his clothes and stepped into his bathroom. He turned on the shower and got in. It wasn't warm yet, but it didn't really matter. Regardless of how cold it was now, there was no way it could have been a worse shower than he had had this morning. While he let the water run over him, he pondered how much money he should take with him. He knew Tsumeki had no intention of breaking the bank, but he didn't want to be caught underfunded. _Maybe it's best that I just bring more money than I reasonably intend to spend, _he thought. _That way, even if I'm caught a little off guard, I'll be fine._ Naruto nodded to himself, sure that that was what he was going to do. He finished scrubbing himself off, and went into his room to get dressed.

Naruto looked at the chest of drawers that contained most of his clothes for a moment. He probably didn't want to start in on another pair of fatigues for just the latter part of the day. So, he just picked out a pair of jeans and an orange T-shirt. After that, he really had nothing to do but lie on his bed and wait for six to roll around.

* * *

"So, where am I taking you," Naruto asked?

Tsumeki shrugged. "I dunno. Somewhere I've never been."

"Such as...?"

"Maybe there?" she pointed at a restaurant.

"Eh, I wouldn't go there. They got their asses kicked about contaminated kitchen space not too long ago."

"Ick. Maybe not, then." Tsumeki looked around a bit. "Oh, hey, how about there?"

Naruto followed her finger and paled slightly when he saw she pointed at Ichiraku Ramen. _But if we go there, Ayame will..._

"C'mon, Naruto, I want to try their ramen!"

For the first time in the history of ever, Naruto Uzumaki dreaded going to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand.

Tsumeki sat down at the counter, and Naruto sat next to her. Ayame turned to greet them.

"Hello, and welcome to the-" She stopped when she saw Naruto. "Oh, hi, Naru-" She stopped again when she saw Tsumeki. "Naruto, who's your friend?"

"My name's Tsumeki," she said. "Does Naruto come here often or something?"

"Oh, all the time," Ayame said, eyes sparkling. "So, what's the occasion, you two?"

"She, ah, beat me in a race," Naruto said quickly. "So I owe her dinner."

"_And_," Tsumeki interjected, "I beat him in a fight, so he owes me breakfast tomorrow."

"Naruto," said Ichiraku, entering from the back of the stand. "What are you doing, losing fights to a girl?" He had a wide smile on his face, and it was plain for all to see that it was innocent jest.

Ayame's eyes were no longer dancing, now that she knew that Naruto did not have a girlfriend, but she still smiled. "So, what'll it be?" The question was directed at Tsumeki.

"Um... I don't know, I've never had much in the way of ramen, what's the best flavor?"

"Miso," said Naruto.

"I guess I'll have one of those, then."

"Coming right up," said Ichiraku. He and his daughter began preparing two bowls of ramen.

"Wait, aren't you going to ask what Naruto wants?" Tsumeki asked, confused.

Ichiraku laughed, and Ayame said, "Oh, honey, we already know what he wants. He gets the same thing every time he comes here."

Within a minute, both bowls were placed before the two genin.

"So, how do you two know each other?" asked Ayame.

"We're teammates," Tsumeki said.

Ayame's eyes lit up again. "Oh, so this is the girl you—"

"Yup. Mmhmm." Naruto was getting nervous. He didn't want this to go awkward.

"Girl you what?" asked Tsumeki, her ramen forgotten.

"Oh, he came in here right after you got your teams assigned and he was trying to figure out how to help you. He was very concerned."

"Oh, really?" she said. "What'd you tell him?"

Naruto sat there, slowly eating his ramen, as the two girls chatted about his coming for advice. His face was bright red, and he did his best to hide it behind his arms, his ramen bowl, whatever.

Ichiraku came by his stool and patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay, Naruto. I know the feeling." Naruto looked up a bit and half-smiled, grateful for the support.

Fortunately, it looked like Tsumeki had remembered that she had ramen and had begun to eat again.

"Why're you so low in the bowl, Naruto? Embarrassed?"

"No, Tsumeki. I'm here because I like the fumes."

She blinked. "Really?"

Naruto lifted his head and looked at her incredulously. "No."

"Well, how was I supposed to know? I've never seen you eating ramen before!"

"Just...no, Tsumeki. Just no."

Naruto picked up his ramen bowl and slurped up the last of the broth. Tsumeki took a bit longer to finish her ramen, but when she did, she followed Naruto's lead.

"Good meal, as always, guys. Thanks for spilling the beans on that Ayame, that was lovely."

Ayame smiled and curtsied. "Always happy to help."

Tsumeki got up. "Yes, thank you very much. The food was good."

Naruto handed Ayame the payment for the meal. "See you guys again soon."

"Bye, Naruto! Bye, Tsumeki!" said Ayame.

"You two have fun, make good choices!" called Ichiraku.

The two teens both turned a bit red. "Good bye," waved Tsumeki.

They left the ramen stand, no particular direction in mind. "Well," said Naruto. "That was...interesting."

"Aw, c'mon, it wasn't so bad. I think it's cute that you were so concerned about me."

"Yeah, well...Y'know."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"I don't do well with sentimental...myekerblech."

"Sentimental myekerblech?"

"Yes. Why do you think I had to go and ask for help?"

"Well. I'm glad that you did. It's nice to have a good friend."

Naruto smiled. "I agree. I have a lot of friends, but you're...I don't know, closer."

Tsumeki smiled back. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That's good to know." She looked to the side. "We're going there for breakfast, by the way."

Naruto looked at the restaurant. "A fruit and yogurt bar?"

"Yes. The food is divine. And it's not too expensive. So that's where you're taking me."

"It looks like I have good taste in restaurants, then."

"Yes, you do. Pick me up at eight."

It was silent for a few minutes, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Naruto was the one to break it. "Hey, Tsumeki?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for not going out of my way to talk to you at the orphanage."

She looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I shouldn't have waited until you were placed on my team to make friends with you. We could have been hanging out long before we started."

"Hey...don't worry about it. It's no big deal. We're pals now, right?" she tossed an arm around Naruto's neck. "Right?"

He grinned. "Right."

* * *

"God, you were right. This is good."

"I know, right?"

"I never knew granola could taste so good. And with blueberries. Son of a bitch, I think I'm in love."

"Sometime, we'll have to come here after eight PM. They bring out a whole bunch of dessert type things, right? They have this pie and ice cream dish that's to die for."

"What's that?"

"Hm? Oh, it's coffee cake. Have you ever had it?"

"No, I haven't."

"Here, have some."

"...Mother of God. As soon as I can afford it, I'm eating here every day. For the rest of forever. And ever."

All of a sudden, a ninja appeared next to the table Naruto and Tsumeki were at.

"Son of a bitch, man, you scared the shit out of me!" Naruto said, cleaning up some spilled yogurt from the table.

"The Hokage needs to see you. He has a mission for you. Come immediately." And with that, the ninja teleported away.

Naruto and Tsumeki looked at each other. "If we're being called instead of going to him for a mission, you think it means we got a C-rank?" asked Tsumeki.

"I bet it does. Can we get this stuff to go?"

"Yeah, you can get a little plastic doohickey. You pay the bill, I'll take care of those."

"On it."

With their breakfast secured and paid for, the two took off toward the Hokage tower at a run.

"What do you think we're going to be doing?" asked Naruto.

"I have no idea! I've never been on a C-rank mission before!"

"Me neither!"

Tsumeki looked at him and laughed. "I know that!"

When they arrived at the tower, they burst through the door and scrambled up the stairs.

"Watch it, you two!" cried a ninja carrying several boxes. "You almost knocked me over!"

"Sorry!" Tsumeki called back to him.

Kakashi and Sasuke were waiting outside the Hokage's office when they got there.

"What took you so long?" asked Sasuke. "Even Kakashi got here before you did."

"Shut up, Sasuke, nobody asked you."

"Well, idiot, considering that this involves me just as much as-"

"Knock it off, you two," Kakashi said. He knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Team seven entered the office. Inside were the Hokage and a man dressed in silk clothes.

"Team Seven, reporting," said Kakashi.

The Hokage nodded at them. "Team Seven, I have decided to give you your C-rank mission. You will be escorting Mr. Dogo's merchant caravan to Suna and back."

The man in silk, Mr. Dogo, bowed. "With bandit activity increased upon the roads to Suna, it will be good to have ninjas on the job."

The Hokage continued. "Mr. Dogo has received some information that persuaded him to contact us for a mission. He believes one of his men is spotting for a group of bandits. Your secondary objective, after making sure the caravan arrives safely in both Suna and Konoha again, is to determine the identity of the bandit lookout and apprehend him. Mr. Dogo has assured us that if lethal force is necessary, he will not press charges. Do you have any questions?"

Sasuke stepped forward. "How long will this mission take?"

"Provided there are no delays, it should be a five day trip both ways. You will be saying in Suna for two to four days. Expect that, if delayed by inclement weather, bandits, or other unforeseen circumstances, it is possible that you could be gone for twenty days or more."

Sasuke bowed his head slightly to the Hokage and stepped back.

"Is that all, Hokage, or can my team pack their bags?" asked Kakashi.

"There is one more thing. Team Guy may be in the area of Suna, as they requested our aid in tracking and apprehending some missing ninjas in the area. If they are in Suna at the same time as you and they have completed their mission, you are to brief them on yours and recruit them into it." The Hokage slid two scrolls forward on his desk. "As such, I have had two copies of your mission objectives made."

Kakashi stepped forward and took the scrolls, putting them in a pouch on his belt.

"That will be all," said the Hokage. "Mr. Dogo, when does your caravan leave?"

"We depart from the west gate at 10:00."

The Hokage looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi, that gives you and your team a little over an hour to prepare. You are dismissed."

* * *

**And that concludes chapter two. I'd like to inform you all that this chapter is actually an accident. It was supposed to be a little bit of filler at the beginning and then it would segway into the C-rank, but as you can see, it sort of evolved on its own into a whole chapter. I guess it's not totally filler, as some plot points were kind of expanded on, such as Naruto's intent to train in kenjutsu and chakra flow, but still. I hope you don't mind the filler. I also hope that it didn't get too choppy. There were a couple of points I wasn't happy with, and I tried to smooth them over, but I don't know how successful I was.**

**Also. Shout out to another reviewer, 3ch0. He mentioned that Ichiraku's name is actually Teuchi. I know that his first name isn't Ichiraku, but since I couldn't remember his first name and had a memory lapse of the existence of Google, I called him by his last name. I will continue to do so for the sake of consistency. **

**I know I said all would be revealed about Tsumeki in this chapter, but like I said, this chapter was an accident. So, just bear with me for another chapter here.**

**I really don't intend to write such long author's notes, but it kind of happens. I'm sorry about that. It's not setting the word count off by too much, though, so I hope you'll forgive me. **

**All right, that's all I have for you. Read, review, see you next chapter.**


	3. C-Rank Mission

**All right. The long-awaited chapter three, where you figure out the deal with Tsumeki. I won't hold you up; this is exciting shit. Get reading!**

* * *

Naruto and Tsumeki couldn't walk next to each other during the caravan escort, and this bummed Naruto out. He understood why it was; they needed to be able to effectively guard the caravan, and that meant the ninjas couldn't stack up on any one part, lest bandits take advantage of the hole in their defenses. Occasionally, as the speed of the wagon Naruto was next to fluctuated, he'd catch a brief glimpse of Tsumeki on the other side. She'd notice him sometimes, and flash him a brilliant, white smile.

Naruto sighed. He knew missions were serious, and he knew what he was getting into when he had asked for the C-rank mission. That didn't change the fact that he really didn't enjoy not being able to talk to his best friend like he always did back home. Perhaps there was nothing to talk about, sure, but even aimless banter with Tsumeki had a great effect on Naruto's mood.

Other than being separated from his best friend, Naruto rather enjoyed the mission. At least for now, the trip was relatively peaceful. Every now and then, the silence would be shattered by a screaming horse, the loud cursing of one of the drivers, or the roaring laughter from several of the caravan's own guards.

Kakashi fell into step with Naruto. "Naruto," he whispered. "Keep an eye on the driver next to you. I was just up talking to Mr. Dogo, and on my way to the back of the line, he was looking shifty."

Naruto nodded. "Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"What exactly should I be looking for?"

"Anything you would do if you were trying to communicate with bandits." With that, Kakashi turned around, headed for his spot at the back of the caravan.

"Well, that's helpful," Naruto grumbled sarcastically.

He looked at the driver for a moment before turning his gaze upwards. _How would I talk to the bandits? _Naruto thought. _Well, for an attack signal, I'd use some sort of bird call. But wait, no, that's way too obvious. Something less common...Maybe a loud exclamation? Something inconspicuous? _His mind went to the swearing that he had been hearing from irritated drivers up and down the caravan. Had that all been coming from one person, Naruto would have brought it up to Kakashi, but it hadn't. He didn't worry about it. _The same could be said of a 'hold off' command. If these bandits aren't ninjas, he could be warning them to stay back because there are ninjas here. _

Naruto's train of thought was interrupted when the driver next to him shouted, "Ah, damn it, hold up guys, my wheel's about to come off!"

It may have been paranoid, but with that declaration, Naruto dropped into a combat stance and drew a kunai. His forethought paid off. Bandits came streaming out of the forest on either side of the road.

"Bandits, both sides!" yelled a voice from behind Naruto. "Guards, form up and repel!"

Naruto was moving before the caravan's guards even had a chance to process the command. He ran forward and engaged the bandits. He lashed out with his kunai and buried it into the chest of a bandit. It lodged in firmly, and Naruto didn't try to fight it out.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The bandits were matched up with one Naruto for each of them. The Narutos dodged many swords and axes. They retaliated with crippling punches and kicks, and a few even dished out headbutts.

The real Naruto found himself face-to-face with a well-dressed bandit sporting a fancy katana. The man was tall and had shoulder-length brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. A thin beard stretched from his chin to his sideburns, and his think features were twisted into a wicked smile.

"You're just a whelpling of a ninja, aren't you?" the man taunted. He drew his sword and struck a stance. "We'll just have to show you your place then, hmmm?"

Naruto found himself pressed by the sword, ducking and dodging for his life. He tried to reach for his weapon pouch.

"Tsk tsk tsk. None of that, now." The katana blurred to Naruto's side, and the pouch fell to the ground, cut from the genin's belt.

Blow after blow rained down on Naruto, and he could not dodge all of them. Several cuts, some shallow and some deep, adorned his arms. Naruto tried to press forward, but the sword came up to meet his belly every time he tried, and he could not proceed without impaling himself. Thus, he was driven back against a wagon.

"Quite sad, really. It's a shame how little you ninja are trained, if even a man like me can defeat you. Of course, I am quite the swordsman..."

The man continued to gloat, his sword up against Naruto's neck. There were no shadow clones left; they had been disposed of, and now the caravan's guards engaged the bandits. They were driving the highwaymen back with ease; their hard leather armor was more than a match for the rusty weapons of their adversaries.

The swordsman stopped talking. "Well. At any rate. I'll just spill your blood here and be on my way. This was just a probing attack; we wanted to know how you ninjas measured up. Our next attack should encounter no difficulty. You seem to be rather-"

"NARUTO!" yelled Tsumeki. She came at the swordsman in a blur and shouldered into him. A thin line of red appeared on Naruto's neck as the blade was knocked away.

The swordsman backhanded her and scoffed. "You're naught but a girl." He looked around. "My men appear to be dead. Well, that's that, then. Ta ta." With a parting kick to Tsumeki's gut, he turned and ran.

"Oh, no you don't!" yelled Naruto, running after him. "Nobody hits Tsumeki and just gets away with it!"

The swordsman looked back out of the corner of his eye. "Persistent little bastard, aren't you?" He tossed a small capsule back towards Naruto, and it exploded into an acrid green gas.

The result almost instantaneous. Naruto leaned over and began to retch horribly, and it was all he could do to not soil himself as well. His arms stung as he doubled over and fell into the growing pool of his own vomit and it contaminated the cuts upon them. Eyes bleary with tears, Naruto looked at the fleeing man. He was laughing. Naruto puked again, and then passed out.

* * *

"Oi, 'e's wakin' up!"

Naruto's eyes opened. He was in the back of a wagon, in a bed. He could feel the bandages around his arms and disinfectant stinging his wounds. As he became more conscious, Naruto realized that his larger cuts had been partially mended; they didn't hurt in as large of an area as they had. It stood to reason that the smaller cuts had been totally patched up, as his neck felt fine. When he reached up to touch the cut that was on his neck, it wasn't there, affirming his theory.

The wagon rocked to the side a touch, and part of the canvas cover slid up to admit Tsumeki. Kakashi came in through the door in the back. Naruto saw from the passing terrain behind Kakashi that they were still moving, though it was getting dark out. A third man, presumably the one who had yelled out of the wagon, slipped out the door behind Kakashi.

"How're you holding up, Naruto?" asked Kakashi.

"I'll kill him," Naruto croaked. "I'll kill the bastard."

Kakashi's mask twitched, and Naruto knew he was smiling, at least a little. "That's the spirit. When you're ready to get up, get out here. We need you back in your watch spot." Kakashi dropped out of the back of the wagon, pulling the door shut on his way out.

Tsumeki came to the bed and sat on it. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner. We had some bandits of our own to take care of on the other side."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said, his throat still raw. "I'm sorry I let him get away."

She lightly slapped his arm. "Don't. There was nothing you could have done, puking your guts out like that."

"I know." It was silent for a moment. "I'm going to kill him," Naruto repeated.

"I believe you. The world will be better for it." She stood up and held out her hand. "Come on. Let's get back out there."

Naruto sighed. The bed was so comfy, and he was still pretty achy...

"Naruto. Get up. I know you're well enough to do that. You've had worse."

He groaned. "But I don't waaaannaaaaaaaaaa..."

Tsumeki laughed. "Get up, dork." She grabbed his arm, making sure to grab an area that wasn't bandaged, and hauled him up.

As Naruto and Tsumeki stepped out of the wagon, Naruto remembered something the swordsman had said. "I'll be right back; I need to go talk to Kakashi."

"Yeah, sure. I'm just going to go back to my spot."

"All right. Talk to you after we stop."

"Yeah. See you."

Naruto went to the back of the caravan, where Kakashi was reading his book in the last of the day's light. "Hey, Kakashi, I just remembered something."

"Hmmm?"

"The swordsman I was fighting mentioned that they were just trying our defenses. They're going to attack again."

Kakashi looked up from his book. "It'd be too much to ask that he said when, wouldn't it?"

Naruto nodded. "The only reason he told me that much was because he was about to kill me."

The jounin sighed. "All right. I'll let Mr. Dogo know."

"Also, Kakashi? I think the driver next to me is the lookout. He shouted that his wheel was coming off right before the bandits attacked. I think that might have been a code signal or something."

Kakashi shook his head. "No, it's not. I checked directly after the battle. The wheel was loose. Besides, right when he was shouting, there was a bird call from the back of the caravan."

"So what? There are plenty of birds around."

"The kind of bird that call belongs to only lives around Kumo. That was the signal for the bandit attack."

"Well, who did it?"

"I don't know. Keep an eye out."

"For what?"

Kakashi didn't respond. He had already fallen back into his book.

Naruto walked back to his position, grumbling, "Well, thanks for nothing."

* * *

Something wet dripped onto Naruto's face, and he rolled over. _Rain, wonderful..._

"Naruto," whispered Tsumeki, her voice cracking. "Naruto, wake up. Please wake up."

_This is probably important,_ Naruto thought. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Tsumeki? What's wrong?" He looked at her, and the first thing he noticed is that wide streams of tears were – or at least had recently been – pouring down her face. She also had a blanket draw around her, even though it wasn't that cold.

"Come on." She grabbed his hand and pulled him up and out of his sleeping bag, leading him away from the encirclement of wagons within which the guards and their teammates were sleeping.

"Tsumeki, are you sure it's a good idea to go into the forest?"

"I need to talk to you, Naruto. Alone."

Her behavior seemed a bit odd, but Naruto decided to trust his friend and let her lead him some distance away from the caravan's campsite. He shivered a bit. It wasn't that cold out, but all he was wearing were a pair of pants.

After they had been going through the forest for about a minute, Tsumeki looked around. She then walked up a nearby tree and sat on the second branch, which was the thickest of the bunch.

"Okay," he muttered, "That's just mean." Naruto concentrated chakra into his (bare) feet, and was suddenly acutely aware of several splinters of wood and small rocks that were embedded into them. He removed them quickly, and then tried running up the tree. It didn't work very well, but he managed to make it to the first branch, just two feet below the second and a bit to the side. Naruto jumped, grabbed the second branch, and hauled himself up. He rested his back against the trunk and let one of his legs dangle off the side. The other was folded near to his body.

Tsumeki shifted her position to face Naruto. She looked like she might be riding a horse sidesaddle. "Naruto... I..." She bit her lip and seemed unsure of herself. "I am different."

He sighed a little. "No, Tsumeki you aren't. You—woah!"

Naruto had looked away from her for just a moment, but when he looked back, her ears were gone and replaced by two fuzzy, red triangles on the top of her head. Her eyes were red and slitted, and her fingernails were longer and sharper. His reaction made her start, and her eyes watered anew.

"No, Tsumeki, don't cry, you just startled me with that, is all."

"I know," she said, her voice cracking again. As she talked, Naruto noticed that she had fangs. "I know you wouldn't let something like this change anything, but..." she wiped at her eyes with her arm. "It's just...Oh, I don't even know."

Naruto leaned forward a bit. "Hey," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "What's on your mind?"

Tsumeki sniffled, but she looked like she was done crying for now. "I had a dream about my parents," she said. "It was the first one in a very long time."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She nodded her head, sniffling a bit more. "I...I'm a Kitsune, Naruto. I don't know how much you know about us." She looked at him, searching for a response.

"I know a bit, yeah. That actually explains a lot about how a genin just out of the Academy knows so much about genjutsu."

"No," she said. "That's actually genjutsu. A Kitsune can't cast illusions until they earn their first tail."

"Earn their...huh?"

"All Kitsune are born as Tailless," she said. "Other than a few minor things, like our ears, fangs, and claws, we're essentially human. We can't do anything more than disguise our Kitsune traits. When you earn your first tail, you start to become more like a Kitsune. Most earn their first tail between the ages of six and eight." She sniffled again, her eyes threatening to spill over. "I hadn't earned my first tail by the time I was eight. I still haven't earned it. My parents were very...elitist. When I hadn't earned my tail within the normal time period, they sent me to the orphanage."

Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Any chance I had of earning my tail after that was gone. I was so devastated...I couldn't..." Tsumeki covered her face with her hands. She was sobbing.

Naruto scooted forward on the branch. "Hey. Hey, don't cry." He pulled her head to his chest. "C'mon. It's gonna be okay. You don't need to cry."

She cried into his chest for probably ten minutes before she was able to regain control of herself. When she pulled her head up, Naruto scooted back just a touch, wanting to give her some personal space.

Naruto tried to think of a way to get her mind off of her parents. "So, what happens when you get your first tail?" _Maybe that wasn't the best topic..._

However, the reaction wasn't as bad as he thought it might be. "Well," she sniffed. "I'll get stronger and faster. I'll be able to cast Kitsune Illusions. Those are different from Genjutsu, too. Harder to dispel. And some you have to dispel in different ways than normal, so that can make them really useful. Uhm. I'll be able to conjure Foxfire, too."

"What's that?"

"Foxfire is...well, it looks like an off-blue flame. It affects the minds of those looking at it, and they're compelled to walk towards it. A lot of stories about disappearing travelers are blamed on Kitsune. You know, for using the Foxfire to lure people to their death. That happens sometimes. Not as often as superstitious folk would like to believe, though. And it can be hard. Someone with a strong mind requires a lot more Foxfire to lure."

"That sounds pretty cool."

"Yeah...I guess."

It was silent for a moment. "Is that all?"

"Well, we can tap into our tails for power. Each tail generates its own chakra, and we can pull on it when we need it. The chakra is revitalizing. You get stronger and faster, and your illusions are more powerful. Your Foxfire has greater strength, too. And you heal faster. Each tail has a bit more chakra than the previous tail, so the boosts get bigger as you tap into higher tail numbers."

"That's a really handy ability. It's liking having a second wind."

"Or a third, fourth, and fifth," Tsumeki agreed.

"How many tails can you guys get, anyways?"

"Up to nine."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up. "That's a lot."

She nodded. "Each tail is harder to get than the one before it, though."

"Do they give you anything other than the tapping boosts to make up for that?"

"Yeah. Each tail gives you...I guess you'd call it a passive boost. One that you don't need to tap into it for, you know? The first's boost is mostly just getting all of your Kitsune abilities. The second...I think the second is mostly speed. It gives you more strength and stronger illusions, too, but it focuses on speed. They all give you some kind of increase in everything, but they focus mostly on something. Does that make sense?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. So if tail five mostly helps with strength, it'll still give you some speed, but not as much as the second tail did."

"Right. But tail five isn't strength. That's tail six. Tail five is eyesight. Kitsune always have good night vision, but with tail five, we start to see in different spectrums."

"So you get, what, heat vision?"

Tsumeki nodded.

"That's really cool. What about three and four?"

"Three is illusions. They start to get competitive with mid- and high-level genjutsu at tail three. Tail four makes your Foxfire more powerful. Not like in how easy it is to lure someone, it makes it...a viable attack, I guess. Makes it really hot."

"Does it spread?"

"Like a normal fire? No. But it doesn't need fuel, either. It lasts until I tell it to go away. Takes a little bit of chakra to maintain. Most of the chakra cost is in summoning it, though. Keeping it up requires maybe ten percent of the chakra it took to summon it."

"Cool. What about the other tails?"

"The others? Uhm. Tail seven is illusions again. But this time around, your illusions are really strong. Like, unheard of in terms of genjutsu. Almost impossible to dispel. Tail eight is healing. You get the ability to heal at an incredible rate all the time. I've seen that in action. My great-great grandfather once almost had his arm chopped off. He just held the arm in its proper place for twenty minutes and it was attached enough that he just put it in a cast. In three days, he had use of it again, and it was back to full strength in a week."

"That's nuts! How do you kill something like that?"

"You cut off the head. But by tail six, most people aren't out to kill you. They're out to seal you into their body and steal your power."

"You can do that?"

Tsumeki nodded. "Haven't you ever heard of jinchuriki?"

"Uhm...You know, it seems to me that I have."

She was silent for a few minutes. "Yeah. It's...awful, really. That's how most Kitsune die. They're sealed into some asshole's body, and then the asshole goes on and dies somewhere. Since the Kitsune is inside the body, they die too. The only way to save them is to extract them through a really complicated and dangerous jutsu. It kills the host, but...Most of the time, at that point, they deserve it for sealing the Kitsune within themselves."

Naruto saw this conversation going nowhere good, so he changed the subject. "What about the ninth tail?"

"Cunning and intelligence. Nine-tailed Kitsune are thought to be omniscient. They're not, but..." she smiled a bit, thinking. "My great-great grandfather was pretty close. He was the Kyuubi, you know."

"The who?"

"The Kyuubi. The most powerful living nine-tailed Kitsune." Her smile faltered. "Of course, even being the most powerful doesn't always save you from people looking to seal you up." She looked toward Suna. "You know, there's actually supposed to be a jinchuriki in Suna."

"Is there? How many tails does his Kitsune have?"

She shook her head. "I don't think it's a Kitsune. I think he has a Tanuki. Maybe even the Ichibi."

"Tanuki? Ichibi?"

Tsumeki smiled. "I sometimes forget that not everyone was educated on these matters. I learned all of this before..." she paused. "The Tanuki are one of the nine species of Tailed Creatures. Or, as most humans call us, Demons. Tanuki can only get one tail, but it's harder for them to get than our first tail is, and it's powers go a lot further. A tailed Tanuki can usually compete with a six- or seven-tailed Kitsune, and sometimes, if they're really strong, they can go toe-to-toe with a nine-tails. The Ichibi is the most powerful living Tanuki that has his tail."

"Wow, nine species? How come they haven't overrun the world?"

"Tailed Creatures have a very low fertility rate. Perhaps one in a thousand...unions...will produce a pregnancy. We have long lifespans, though, so I suppose that offsets it. You also have to consider that many Tailed Creatures don't live their full lifespan due to various causes. War, disease, being sealed inside some asshole human... No offense."

Naruto held up his hands. "Hey, I'm not planning on it. I'm not worried."

Tsumeki smiled. There was a moment of silence. Then, she said, "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for listening. You have..." she teared up a bit. "You have no idea how good it is to talk about myself to someone. Like, the real me. Not, you know..." her Kitsune traits disappeared, replaced by her human ones. "...this me." She dropped the concealment again, going back to her Kitsune self. "It feels good to actually have my ears out, too," she said. Her ears twitched and moved around on her head. "Human ears are so uncomfortable. And they don't move. How are you supposed to hear something behind you clearly if you can't turn your ear around?"

"Move your head?" Naruto suggested. "At least, that's how most of us mortals do it."

Tsumeki laughed. "Oh, you'd understand if you had my ears. It's a totally different feeling."

"If you say so." Naruto thought for a moment. "Hey, you never did say how you earn your tails."

"Great feats of strength or trickery. Our bodies have some sort of...I don't know how to describe it, really. My body will know when I've beaten an opponent significantly stronger than me, and when that happens, I'll get my tail. Or, if I manage to trick someone in a major way, that'll work too."

"What kind of a trick do you need to do?"

Tsumeki bit her lip. "Well. Trickery is a tough one. It's hard to do without the trick being malicious. Most stories I heard about Kitsune earning a tail through trickery involved making someone think their family was murdered and go on a killing rampage, or tricking someone into suicide, or something grim like that. Even the more innocent pranks that would get you tails can end up getting people killed, though. My great-great grandfather made it appear that the moon was going to crash into the world. He managed to trick everyone in the world. It took him three months of constant concentration, the story goes. He cast the illusion right onto the moon. People freaked out. It caused riots. A lot of people died. He didn't mean for it to happen that way. Just wanted to get his tail and give everyone a nice scare."

"Wow," said Naruto. "What tail did that get him?"

"His ninth."

He let out a low whistle. "Damn."

"Yeah."

Both ninjas looked up at the sky. It was clear out, and the stars could be seen clearly. And then, without warning, a bright light flashed through the sky – a shooting star. Out of his peripheral vision, Naruto saw Tsumeki close her eyes for a moment.

"Hey, Tsumeki."

"Hm?"

"I'm going to help you get your tails. Promise."

She looked at him, eyes wide. "W-what?"

"I'm going to help you get your tails."

Tsumeki said nothing at first. Her mouth hung slightly open. Then, she clamped it shut. Her eyes began to water, and she couldn't help but smile. "Naruto... That's..." She jumped forward and slammed into Naruto's chest. "Thank you," she sobbed. "Thank you so much."

"Of course. Anything for you."

They sat there in the tree for some time before Tsumeki managed to stifle her tears. She pulled back from Naruto, wiping her eyes and smiling.

"Hey," he said. "We should get back to the camp."

"Yeah," she replied. "Yeah, we should."

* * *

_A Week and a Half Later_

Visiting Suna had been fun for the first few days. After that, the scorching heat and severe boredom had been enough to make Naruto contemplate suicide. To make matters even better, they had failed to make contact with Team Guy.

The caravan was now on its way out of the desert. Just a mile away, the edge of the River country could be seen. The return to a temperate climate put a spring in the step of everyone.

Well, that and the sandstorm.

The caravan was making double time to the River Country because, behind them, a huge sandstorm was brewing. It was closing on them fast, and Mr. Dogo was moving the animals as fast as they could move. It didn't seem to be helping much.

"Come on, lads!" shouted the guard captain, who was out of breath from keeping up with the brisk pace the draft horses were carrying. "We're almost there, just gotta move! Don't get caught in the storm!"

Outrunning the sandstorm was hard work. It was tiring, even for Naruto, who prided himself on his endurance. The sand made it difficult to run. Every time he took a step, he had remember to wait for his foot to settle in the sand, so that he did not slip and fall. By the time he was ready to pick it up again, the sand had closed in around his foot and he had to pull it out, which almost made him lose his balance on several occasions.

They had been running hard for going on twenty minutes when they finally crossed the border, but they didn't stop there, for fear that the sandstorm might extend the grip of the desert and catch them resting. For another four minutes they ran, their speed slowing as the adrenaline left their bodies and the exhaustion began to set in. When they stopped, Naruto sat down and leaned his back against one of the wagons. As he sat there, panting, he heard a conversation from the front of the caravan.

"I told you we should have waited in Suna for another day!" That would be the driver of the second wagon. He was a bit of a hothead, and often clashed with Mr. Dogo.

"The sandstorm wasn't forming, then! It caught everyone off guard, there was no way we could have known!" That would be Mr. Dogo.

Before another word could be said, a bird call rang out, and Naruto felt a chill of icy terror run up his spine. Bandits appeared from everywhere. They came from the trees, from holes in the ground, from piled up grass and leaves. They had been waiting, and now they were going to take everything in the caravan, to include the lives of the people in it.

Naruto got to his feet. "Shadow..." he swallowed, wetting throat somewhat. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Nine more Narutos appeared next to him. They looked about as tired as he was, but that was obviously going to be true. He couldn't just make clones that were in better shape than he was.

Naruto could almost feel the sound of the bandits colliding with the caravan guards. He and his shadow clones did not attempt to participate in the countercharge, where it happened. Many of the guards were slaughtered where they sat, never having a chance to react to the attack. Instead, Naruto and his clones jumped over the line of bandits to get behind them. He buried a kunai in the back of the nearest bandit, squarely on the spine. The man collapsed, as did several others felled by the clones. Four of the clones were killed by vicious blows from axes and swords before they were able to land a killing or disabling blow on the enemy.

Not wasting a moment, Naruto pulled his weapon out of the bandit's back and spun around in a circle. The spin gave his kunai momentum, and he threw it directly at the neck of a bandit coming for him. The throw didn't hit right where he had wanted it to, but it had left a sizable gash on the man's neck, and he stopped his advance on Naruto and scrambled to stop the bleeding.

Sensing movement behind him, Naruto spun around to deliver a high roundhouse kick. His foot collided with the wrist of a bandit who had lagged behind the rest, and he knocked the sword from the other's hand. He followed up with a quick palm strike to the base of the nose, driving it up into the man's brain and killing him. The sound of the nose breaking was disgusting. Naruto almost vomited.

A sudden awareness of the battlefield told Naruto that the rest of his clones had been surrounded and killed, and that the group of six bandits was heading for the real him. Instead of engaging them, Naruto ran at the nearest hard-topped wagon. He was too tired to jump it, so he jumped as high as he could, grabbed onto the side, and hauled himself the rest of the way to the top.

As he paused to look over the battlefield, Naruto realized that the caravan wasn't doing well. The merchants were nowhere in sight, but the guards were almost completely decimated. A few surrounded pockets of resistance remained, but would soon be overwhelmed. About thirty bandits remained to the maybe twelve guards, not including the nine bandits trying to follow him up the wagon. Naruto looked around for his team, but he couldn't see them.

Then, from the back of the caravan, he heard, "Fire style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" There was a red glow of fire, and the shrieking of burning men. Naruto made his way to the last wagon. The bandits on the ground followed him.

_I can't just lead them to the back,_ Naruto thought. _I don't know if everyone can handle that right now. _Since he was on top of a wagon with canvas sides, Naruto jumped down the opposite side of the bandits and, when he was out of sight, ducked into the wagon. He heard the bandits going through the gaps between wagons, so he jumped out of the other side, where they had been a moment ago. All of the bandits had gone to the other side, so Naruto had a minute to move. He ran to the back of the caravan. The adrenaline had fully set in, and Naruto's limbs weren't as heavy as they had been when the bird call went out.

Naruto turned the corner, and he was immediately fighting for his life. The tip of a blade was less than a hair's breadth away from his eye, and it took all of his strength to push it away.

"Dumbass," Sasuke said, pulling the kunai away. "I had almost killed you!"

"I noticed," Naruto replied dryly.

Kakashi and Tsumeki were standing in front of the steps into the wagon. In the window of the door, Naruto saw the terrified face of a merchant peeking outside before going back down to hide.

"Naruto, what's it looking like elsewhere?" Kakashi asked.

"Lots of bandits. The guards are going to be gone in just a few minutes if we don't help."

"We can't just leave the merchants," Tsumeki said.

"I don't want us splitting up," Kakashi said. "My first priority is making sure you get out alive."

"Bring them on," Sasuke said. "I can roast them like I did the rest." He gestured to a mass of charred bodies, at least twelve high.

"We're going to need help," Tsumeki said. "If only we had found Team Guy..."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little baby ninjas."

Naruto spun around. The swordsman from the previous attack had come onto the road and was striding confidently toward them. At either side of him was a massive man, each easily seven feet tall, if not more, and rippling with grotesquely massive muscles.

The swordsman drew his blade. "I don't have time for this, so you'll forgive me if I'm brief. You are holding up my operations to an extent you wouldn't believe, and I have better things to do. Yamak, Ramak. Get the white-haired one. I'll take care of the brats."

"Yes, boss," they said in unison. Each took a heavy club off of his back and advanced on Kakashi with malice in their eyes.

Without changing his pace, the swordsman drew three throwing knives and pitched them at the genin. Before they had gone far out of his hand, however, Sasuke responded with shuriken and knocked them out of the air.

The swordsman smiled. "This should be a bit more fun than last time."

The two brutes broke out in a run, and the one on the left swung his club downward at Kakashi. He dodged right, not wanting to put the genin in danger from the right brute's attack. It was fortunate that he did, because Rightie swung his club in a low arc.

Naruto didn't have time to look at what happened next, because the swordsman engaged them. He had a kunai out so that he could at least make an attempt at parrying, and his teammates had followed his example. Despite their advantage in numbers, however, the swordsman kept all three of them on the defensive. His strikes were fast, hard, and precise. He did not attack them in any particular order, but no attempt to attack was forgiven with less than two rapid, brutal strikes, barely deflected by a the failing metal of a kunai.

_How can we beat this guy?_ Naruto thought. _He's faster and stronger than all of us put together! If only Tsumeki had a tail, we could do this!_

Naruto rolled to the side to evade an attack, and he watched in horror as one of the giant clubs swung past where he had just been and caught Tsumeki in the side as she ducked under a sword slash. She was flung across the field, and she landed on the same side of the caravan that the bandit horde was on.

"Tsumeki! No!" Naruto yelled.

A roar of victory came from the direction of said horde, and Naruto knew the last of the guards were dead. There was a storm of stomping feet. The bandits were coming to them, and they would trample Tsumeki to death on their way. There was no way Naruto could find out of the situation while the swordsman was pressing him.

Then, a great, thundering voice gave pause to everyone on the battlefield. "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" A green blur shot from a tree, and suddenly, the brute on the right had a foot in his face.

The swordsman snarled and spun to attack Naruto again. Seizing the opportunity, Sasuke bolted. Naruto was about to snarl a curse at him, but a dodge gave him an angle on what Sasuke was actually doing – standing guard over Tsumeki's body. For the first time, Naruto felt a flash of gratitude to Sasuke, and it quickly grew into a healthy amount of respect.

Others began to engage the bandits, but Naruto had no time to look. His attention was demanded back in his fight with the swordsman.

"With just you, this'll be easy pickings!"

Naruto snarled at him. "Shut up, you stupid son of a bitch!" Instead of parrying the coming blow, Naruto got right up into the swordsman's face. The katana bit into his skin, and Naruto gasped in pain. The cut was deep, but it wasn't going to stop him. Now that he was in the swordsman's guard, he had all the advantage in the world. He punched at the other man's face, but the swordsman dropped his blade and rolled back. He struck a taijutsu stance.

"Now you're fighting on my field," Naruto said.

Naruto unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at the other man. He proved to be as adept at taijutsu as he was at kenjutsu, though, and Naruto found no advantage.

"Idiot child, I'm in every way your better!" His hand went to his pouch.

Naruto wasn't about to let him use another one of those gas pellets. He did a low, sweeping kick and knocked the swordsman's legs out from under him. The swordsman recovered quickly by knocking Naruto onto the ground with him. He seized Naruto's throat and got up, lifting Naruto into the air.

"Now," he said, moving to his sword, "I will gut you."

Naruto gurgled out the best he could of an insulting response.

"What did you say?" the man narrowed his eyes and drew Naruto closer.

Naruto used what leverage he had to headbutt the man in the nose. There was a loud crack, and the man yelped in surprise and dropped Naruto. He didn't miss a beat; he picked up the swordsman's blade, which he had been dropped by, and ran the swordsman through.

"G...ga...ack..." Blood ran out of the man's mouth. He attempted to grab Naruto's throat again.

Naruto's fury got the better of him. He wasn't done. He dropped into one of the stances he had learned from the kenjutsu scrolls and quickly struck the man twice more across the chest. Blood poured from the swordsman freely, but he still wasn't dead. Naruto executed a precise spin. When the blade came back around, it separated the man's head from his shoulders. The body followed the head to the ground. Naruto stood for a moment, catching his breath. He looked at his arm. It was covered in blood, but he wasn't sure how much of it was his. Naruto dropped to his knees and ripped a piece of clean cloth off of swordsman's pants. He used it to make a tourniquet and stop the bleeding in his arm.

After he made sure that the bleeding was going to be under control, he got up and checked the status of the battle. It looked like Team Guy had arrived. The two giants lay dead on the ground, and the ninjas were cleaning up the rest of the bandits. There was a man and a boy in awful green jumpsuits who seemed to exceptionally talented at taijutsu, one girl in a pink shirt standing back and throwing all manner of weaponry (_Was that a sword?_), and another boy in a beige shirt and shorts engaging in some sort of chakra-infused taijutsu. Sasuke and Kakashi were fighting, too. With the sword in hand, he stumbled over in that direction. The blood loss didn't make it easy. About halfway there, Naruto realized he'd be pretty useless in a fight. He kept going towards it, but altered his course slightly. He dropped down next to Tsumeki and checked her pulse. It was strong. He ran his hands lightly over her ribs. He could feel that a few of them were broken. He was no medical genius, but he thought Tsumeki should be fine.

Naruto was shocked back to reality by a hard slap to the face. His vision focused in on the girl in pink.

"Hey, wake up, don't go to sleep. You're losing too much blood for that."

"Sleep? I wasn't sleeping, I was just..." Naruto was aware that he was laying on the ground. "When did I get here?"

"You probably passed out," she said. "You did a good job with the tourniquet. Without that, I'd have a lot harder time keeping you alive. Hold still."

A searing pain in Naruto's arm informed him of the invasion into his cut.

"This is a disinfectant. It'll keep you from losing the arm."

"Tenten," said a calm voice, "does he need to be stitched up, or can we move?"

"I'd like to stitch him up, but unless these merchants have some anesthetic laying around, we're just going to have to bandage him."

"Hnn."

"Did you take him down?" Tenten asked Naruto, gesturing at the headless swordsman.

"Yeah," he said.

"That's not bad. That's Kero Kushoni. He was a big-shot tournament fighter a couple years ago, but he got kicked out. Went into banditry, I guess."

"He's got a nice price on his head, too," said Kakashi, who knelt down next to Naruto. "About fifty thousand ryo. You'd better bring the head if you plan to collect on it."

Naruto closed his eyes. "That's, like...ten missions."

"Yes it is." Kakashi clapped Naruto on the arm. "Good work."

"Is the sword yours?" Tenten asked.

Naruto looked at his hand, which was still clenching the katana tightly. It was a plain weapon; the handle looked like ivory wrapped in fine, but worn, leather, and the blade was crafted with steel. "It is now," Naruto said.

"Do you know how to use it?"

"Kind of."

"You'll have to show me sometime."

He looked at Tenten. "Why?"

She smiled, tying off the bandage. "I love weapons," she said. "I know how to use a lot of them. I could teach you more about kenjutsu."

"That'd be good. I need someone to practice with, at least..." A little bell went off in Naruto's head. "Tsumeki!"

"Calm down, calm down," Tenten said, pressing him down. "I already took care of her. You don't need to be freaking out. Don't get your blood pumping more than it already is, I don't know how much more you can afford to lose."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"She's got a couple of broken bones, but I managed to set most of them. The rest can be taken care of by the medics. As for you, you're stable. You might need a little blood when you get to Konoha, but as long as you don't do anything dumb, you should be fine."

Naruto heard Sasuke's voice. "We finished burying the guards. The jumpsuits are marking the graves with Mr. Dogo."

Tenten looked over towards Kushoni's body. "I'll be right back." She returned just a moment later with the scabbard for the katana. It was entirely made of ivory, with the same leather wrapped around it in some places. "Here. Give me the sword. I'll hang onto it while you rest."

"No, I'm fine, I can-"

"While you rest," Tenten repeated, hand outstretched.

Naruto surrendered the sword to Tenten. She sheathed it and put it in the back of a nearby wagon. "Neji, help me move him." She grabbed Naruto's legs.

"Hn." Another pair of hands seized him by the shoulders.

They placed Naruto in the back of the wagon. He turned his head and saw Tsumeki laying next to him. She was sleeping. "I'll see you when I wake up," he murmured, and then fell asleep.

* * *

**Damn, that took me a while. I'm sorry for that, I had some trouble with the last part of the chapter. I hope it turned out okay; I'm not sure how I feel about it. I know I liked the part where Tsumeki was revealing her identity to Naruto, I feel like that came off well. The chapter as a whole seemed a bit fast, too, but that could have just been the speed at which I was reading it.**

**You'll be happy to know I have the next couple chapters mapped out. You'll all be excited for chapter five; I know I'm excited to write it, and I'm not telling you why! **

**You guys make me sad! Only two people reviewed chapter two! I'm more than willing to assume that that's because chapter two was bad (because I feel like it kind of was), but still. I thought we were friends! And friends don't let friends write without reviews!**

**Also, heads up for those of you who don't know. I've put up a poll on my profile. Check it out. It's important.**

**Anyways, next chapter should be out in the next week and a half. Might be a bit longer, because I do need to think on how I'm going to work with the first part of chapter four, but I'll ****try to get it out soon. Hope you enjoyed it, please review!**


	4. Chuunin Exams: Part One

**Well, I was kind of sweating it, but most everyone responded well to the liberties I took with Tsumeki being a Kitsune. Also, it looks like you guys favored that nobody replace Sasuke on Team 7 after the Sasuke retrieval mission. That's what I was leaning toward, anyways. By the way, bit of a heads up on that. I'm going to have the Sasuke Retrieval mission happen off screen. I'm honestly not sure how much I could change to be able to write it down, and if I just focused on what Naruto was doing, I wouldn't have enough for a chapter. So there's that. Also, later on in the chapter, the prelims happen for round 3 of the Chuunin exams. I will briefly go over any fights that are not important, e.g. any that were the same (or close to it) in the anime/manga or that don't involve major characters. And yes, that does basically mean you only get play-by-play for Naruto and Tsumeki.**

**And now, without further ado, the chapter.**

* * *

"You know, if heaven had a taste, I'm pretty sure this ramen would be it," said Naruto.

"You like it? It's a new recipe, I made it myself," responded Ayame.

Old Man Ichiraku grinned. "Indeed she did. It's already one of our more popular flavors."

"I cam fee why," Naruto said through a full mouth.

"So, Naruto, what's this I've been reading about in the newspapers? Something about you taking out an A-rank criminal last month?" asked Ichiraku.

"Mmhmm." He swallowed. "Yeah, he was leading a gang against the caravan we were protecting. Me, Sasuke, and Tsumeki all together couldn't take him down, but I managed to get inside his guard. It cost me a nice hole in my side, but I disarmed him and then killed him with his own sword when he was being careless."

"That's very impressive! How'd the rest of the caravan fare?"

Naruto's face fell, and he set down his bowl for a moment. "They, ah...the guards didn't make it. There were too many bandits, and we were exhausted from running from a sandstorm. We probably would have died, too, if it wasn't for Team Guy showing up at the last minute. They took down one of the two guys fighting Kakashi and then helped fight off the rest of the bandits."

Ayame and Ichiraku both frowned. "Sorry to hear that, Naruto. I'm sure you did your best."

"Yeah, well...wasn't good enough, that time. They got the insider, though. The guy who was signaling the bandits when to attack us. I wasn't awake for it. Tsumeki and I were unconscious in the back of a wagon. I guess he tried to sneak off when he thought nobody was looking, and Sasuke caught him. He's imprisoned, right now. I'm pretty sure he's going to be hanged."

Ichiraku nodded. "It's a shame anyone has to die, but this man sounds like he's better off dead. We can't have someone like that plaguing society and endangering the people who trust him."

Ayame piped up. "So, changing the subject to something a little less depressing, what came of you taking down their leader?"

Naruto ate a bit more ramen. "I got a bounty for it, and I got to keep his sword. It's well made, a good piece of work."

"Oh, cool! Do you have it on you?"

"No, not right now. I left it at home."

"Tch. That's too bad, I've always found swords to be beautiful pieces of art. Shame that their only real use is in something so bloody."

Naruto shrugged. "I guess. I've been training with Tenten, one of the members of Team Guy. She's really knowledgeable about all sorts of weaponry, and she knows a lot about Kenjutsu. Since that's something I've been wanting to learn, she volunteered to help me out with it."

"She? What about Tsumeki?"

"What about her?"

"I thought you two were...You know..."

"Oh. Uh. No, we're not."

"Well, isn't she going to be jealous that you're seeing this Tenten girl?"

"What? No, I'm not _seeing_ Tenten. We're just training together!"

"Does Tsumeki know that?"

"Well, yeah, of course she does."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't she?"

"Naruto, you have to under—Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! My father will take your order. – understand, women aren't like men. Tsumeki is probably thinking that you're interested in Tenten. You go and tell her that nothing's happening, and make it clear that you AREN'T interested at all in Tenten beyond a training partner."

"Why should it matter, though? I told her we were going to be training togeth-"

Ayame threw her hands up. "Naruto! Have I _ever _led you astray?"

"Yes. Several times."

"Not about women! Now finish your ramen and go _straight _to Tsumeki and make sure she understands what's happening."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother."

As he finished off his ramen, Naruto noticed the customer that had entered during Ayame's rant out of the corner of his eye. The man seemed rather confused and perhaps a little scared. Naruto suppressed a laugh, but he still snorted into his bowl a bit. The sudden burst of air splashed a few drops of broth onto Naruto's forehead.

"Ah! Hot!"

* * *

Naruto strolled down the street, Tsumeki's apartment building in sight. _How do I bring this up? "Oh, by the way, Tsumeki, I'm not interested in dating Tenten, just in case you feel threatened." "Well, gee, Naruto, aren't you the presumptuous asshole? What makes you think I was interested in you? In fact, I'm going to go tell Tenten that you aren't interested in her right now so that you've just ruined the __only potential relationship you'll ever have! Hope you die old and alone!" All right, so that's a bit of a long shot. I doubt that she would say something like that. Still, would that be opening a door she'd rather keep closed? What if she thinks that means I'm interested in her? _

Naruto stopped for a second. _AM I interested in her?_

That merited some thought. _Well. She's definitely attractive. In a lot of ways. And I like red hair. So, physically, yeah, I'd be interested. She thinks a lot like I do, and we're interested in a lot of the same things. We're both Ninja, so that's a plus, I guess. She's funny, she's nice, she's smart... Can humans and Kitsune breed together? Is that possible? Well, I don't see why it SHOULDN'T be, I mean, Kitsune already look like some dude screwed a fox. All right, that was probably a little disrespectful. Sorry, Tsumeki. And any other Kitsune I may have offended with that thought. Why the hell am I apologizing? It's my head, nobody else can hear me. Can they? HEY, YOU. Yeah, you, dude in the straw hat. If you can hear me, give me the finger right now._

Naruto paused.

_The hell is wrong with me? Anyways. Would I date Tsumeki? Yeah, I think I would. But I don't think she'd want to date me. Or at least, I hope she would, but I don't know. And I'm not sure I'm ready to take that risk yet. Shit, that doesn't answer my question, though. How do I bring this up to her?_

He growled a bit and put both hands on his head. Why were girls so damned _confusing_?

_You know what, Ayame is probably wrong about this one. Nothing's wrong. I told Tsumeki we're just training together, and that's that. Yeah, I told her that. She understands. Why wouldn't she? And besides, it's not like it's been a problem that needs to be dealt with. It's probably nothing. Yeah, best not to bring it up. _

Naruto found himself at the entrance of Tsumeki's apartment. _Yeah, it's nothing. No reason for me to be here. We've already trained together today. I'll just head home now._

* * *

(POV shift – Tsumeki)

Tsumeki watched Naruto walk up the street towards her apartment. "That's odd," she said to herself. "What's he doing here?"

She looked down at herself. She wasn't wearing nearly enough to receive company – not even Naruto. She should probably put on a shirt. And some pants.

After coming back from her closet with the aforementioned articles of clothing, she continued to watch Naruto while she put them on. _Maybe he's here to ask me to go eat? We haven't done that in a little while. Not since a little after he started training with Tenten. _

Bile rose in her stomach as soon as the name crossed her mind. She wanted to spit. _Tenten. _"How DARE she." Tsumeki stopped when she heard herself say that aloud. _How dare she what? Train with Naruto? Cut it out, Tsumeki, you're being unreasonable. It's not illegal to train with someone from another team. And besides, if what Kakashi told you is right, Tenten saved Naruto's life. You should be grateful._

"Yeah, and the little whore probably used that to get him in bed. 'Oh, Tenten, I'm so grateful that you saved me! How can I repay you?' 'Well, gee, Naruto, word on the street is that you're pretty good in bed. Wanna go bang in the woods and then I'll teach you how to use a metal sword, too?'"

_That's not fair. Tenten showed no inclination towards stealing Naruto. Besides, Naruto is better than that, he wouldn't just go off and have sex with some random chick, even if she saved his life._

"Wait, steal? Steal from who? He doesn't belong to anyone."

_Hell yes he does. He's yours._

"Mine? But we're not dating."

_Why not?_

"Because we...because...I don't know. Why aren't we dating?"

_Hey, I'm YOUR brain, sister. You know what I know. _

"Well, okay, what do we know? Why aren't we dating him?"

_I don't know. Maybe he's not interested in us? _

"Yeah. If we asked him out and he wasn't interested, that could get awkward, couldn't it?"

_Way awkward._

"So we wait for him to make a move?"

_Good plan. Hey, what's he doing?_

"Huh?"

Tsumeki looked out the window again, broken free from her conversation with her brain. Naruto was just standing at the entrance to the building, looking at the door.

"What's he doing?"

_I don't know. Watch._

"Shut up, he's moving again."

_Yeah, walking away. Good job._

"I didn't do anything!"

_He probably heard your ranting, psycho._

Tsumeki winced. "Yeah, he – he's down there! Three stories! And there's a closed window between us! How the hell would he have heard me?"

_I don't know. But he probably did._

Tsumeki watched Naruto walk away, much more chipper than he had been on his way to her apartment. Her heart sank a bit, and she wasn't sure why – because he was walking away from her, because he came for seemingly no reason, or because he seemed so happy to be leaving.

_It's probably Tenten's fault. We should kill her._

"Yeah. We should."

* * *

(POV Shift – Naruto)

(Later the next day)

"The Chuunin Exams?" asked Naruto.

"Are...are you sure we're ready for that?" asked Tsumeki.

"Hn. Good, should be fun," said Sasuke.

"Don't take this lightly, Sasuke. The Chuunin Exams are going to be a real challenge for you three, but I believe that you're ready. Entering first-year Genin is not a common occurrence, and I wouldn't do it if I didn't believe you to be a match for any Genin the other villages can throw at you."

"You mean that, sensei?" asked Naruto.

"I do. Your core skills are solid, and each of you has an advanced skill that will put you above much of the competition. Sasuke, most ninja don't learn more than one Elemental Jutsu until they're Chuunin. Your Fire jutsu should help you get the upper hand in a fight."

Sasuke smirked. Even with Naruto's newfound respect for Sasuke as a person, the smugness still kind of pissed him off.

"Tsumeki, you are exceptionally agile and have a more solid grasp on Genjutsu than any Genin I've ever met. This was true even when you were graduating from the Academy. By now, most Genin can do little more than dispel a Genjutsu. I've seen you dish them out better than most Chuunin I've encountered. I think you'll be able to use these to outmaneuver just about any other ninja you come across in the Exams."

Tsumeki smiled, but her anxiety was still plain to see. Even with the confidence Naruto helped her find, it seemed that some of her old meekness could still shine through.

"Naruto. Your chakra reserves and physical stamina are phenomenal. While you still need to work on controlling it all, I have no doubt that you could give a Jounin a run for his money in terms of sheer endurance. I know you've been practicing with Tenten to improve your Kenjutsu. I don't know how much you've improved since I last saw you, but I know that Genin with weapons knowledge beyond kunai and shuriken are few and far between. This'll give you a good advantage in a fight. I do, however, recommend that you avoid Chakra Flow unless your life is threatened – while there are occasional deaths in the Exams, it's not something to go looking for."

Naruto nodded. "All right."

Kakashi reached in his pocket and pulled out his book. "All right. Pep talk is over. Go to the Academy for the first exam. Room 301, if I recall correctly." He turned around and began walking away.

"This is big," said Naruto.

"Just a little, yeah," replied a nervous Tsumeki.

"Come on. Let's get to the Academy. I don't want to be late," said Sasuke.

* * *

When they arrived at the Academy, the Genin of Team Seven were stunned into silence for a moment. They had never seen so many ninja packed into such a small area. They seemed to be from every village imaginable, and the sea of faces had no end.

"There's so many of them..." said Tsumeki. "How are we supposed to compete in this? We'll be run over by sheer volume!"

"I'm sure there's going to be something weeding them out," said Naruto.

"New arrivals?" called a voice to their left. It was a Konoha Chuunin at a desk. He had three stacks of papers, each easily three feet tall, around him and a fourth on the floor.

Team Seven approached the desk. "Uh...I guess so?" said Naruto.

"Oh, no, you're Konoha ninja. You're fine, you don't need to stop at this desk. Head right for the medical station back there," he said, pointing his pen across the room. "You'll be examined to make sure no conditions have developed since your last examination that will prevent you from entering the Chuunin exams."

"Are you seriously telling me that any ninja in the village could just walk in here and compete, even if they weren't supposed to?" asked Sasuke. "That's idiotic."

The Chuunin gave Sasuke a dirty look. "No, the only medical forms we have on file here are for those who were registered. So if you went back there and your form wasn't there, you'd be kicked out. We know what we're doing. Now go get in line for the medical station."

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders and started pushing him towards the other side of the room. He could see the Uchiha was getting angry with the Chuunin for speaking to him like that. "Yup, thank you, sir, we'll be heading right that way."

"Get your hands off of me," Sasuke said, pushing Naruto to the side.

"Ass," spat Naruto after him as Sasuke stalked over to the other end of the room.

As Naruto and Tsumeki followed their teammate across the crowded room, they caught the Chuunin mumbling, "Fuckin' Uchihas," under his breath.

There were three lines for the medical station, but they were all long. This seemed to be the part where most of the other Genin were at. Constant grumblings could be heard from the mass of ninja, irritated about the wait and demanding that the first test begin already.

"Man," came a voice from behind them, "this line is a drag. Why can't we just get this over with already?"

Sasuke made no sign that he had heard anything, but Naruto and Tsumeki turned around to see Shikamaru behind them.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" said Tsumeki.

"Hi there, Shikamaru!" said Naruto.

"Hey. You know how long this is going to take?"

"No, we just got here," Tsumeki replied.

"Draaaaag," repeated Shikamaru.

"Where's the rest of your team?" Naruto asked.

"Ino had to go to the bathroom, and Chouji's probably off scrounging for food."

Naruto and Tsumeki chatted with Shikamaru for a while as they waited for the line to progress. Most people were actually in and out of the medical station fairly quickly; the holdup was simply the number of ninja that needed to go through it.

After about thirty minutes, Tsumeki had left the medical station and Naruto was called in. He stepped behind the screen, and there was a nurse there waiting for him.

"Shirt off," she said.

Naruto complied and shrugged off the green jacket he had brought and pulling off the gray shirt.

"Hold still," she said. She put a stethoscope to his chest, and Naruto was both relieved and disturbed that the metal wasn't cold, like it usually would have been, but actually somewhat warm. "Heart rate normal. Any pains, aches, old injuries you want to mention that are bothering you?"

"No, I'm feeling fine."

"Good." The nurse put Naruto through a few more examinations, including one in which Naruto would rather have had a male nurse present, and he passed the physical with flying colors.

"All right. Now, I have to ask you a few questions. These are relevant to the Chuunin Exams and may require tests to be slightly rethought depending on how many people answer similarly."

"O...kay."

"One: Do you have any intense fears or phobias that we should be made aware of?"

"None."

"Two: Do you believe yourself likely to flinch and hesitate in combat?"

"Uh...no."

"Three: Is the loss of one or more of your teammates likely to scar you mentally and or emotionally?"

"Uhm. What?"

"Is the loss-"

"I heard you. Why do you need to know that?"

"Answer the question, please."

Naruto gave the nurse a sidelong glance. "Yes."

"Name or names?"

"I really don't see how that's -"

"Answer the question or leave, sir."

"...Tsumeki Shuro."

"Thank you. That's all. Put on your shirt and jacket and head to the testing room. Please do not sit next to any of your teammates."

"Right. Got it." Naruto left and headed for the branching hallway that had the sign, **FIRST TEST ROOM, THIS WAY **on it.

"Some weird-ass questions," murmured Naruto.

He entered the room. It was starting to fill up, as many of the genin had made it through the medical exams. Naruto took a seat next to a ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village and waited. A few people would enter every couple minutes. He looked around for a moment, trying to find Tsumeki in the largish room. He saw her, sitting three rows behind him and two over, and managed to catch her eye. She smiled at him slightly, nervously, and gave him a small wave. He returned the wave and supplemented it with a boisterous, reassuring grin.

"So, what do you think they're going to throw at us in a classroom?" He asked the ninja he was beside.

He wasn't graced with a response.

"All right, then. Suit yourself."

It took about twenty more minutes for the last of the people to file in. However, it wasn't for another half an hour that any authority figures arrived. They were heralded by the door being slammed shut. After the crack of thunder rang throughout the room, an imposing man in all black strode down the center aisle, flanked by two ninja in flak jackets and followed by a third. The man in black took position at the front and center of the room. The other three ninja gravitated towards the side walls, but still stayed in the front of the room.

"All right, listen up. This is the first examination of the Chuunin Exams. From here on out, it is my sworn duty to make sure as few of you leave this room smiling as possible. I am your proctor for the first test, Ibiki Morino. For those of you who have no idea what that means, it means that I am the worst nightmare for the soft -" He glared at a baby-faced ninja near Naruto from the Hidden Cloud. "-the weak -" he turned his gaze to someone behind Naruto, and Naruto had the better sense not to look. "- and the irresolute." Again, his leer fell behind Naruto. "I am the Head Interrogator of Konoha, and in this exam, it is my job to see how you fare against your worst fears."

Murmurs began to spring up around the room.

"SHUT UP! DID I TELL YOU YOU COULD SPEAK?!" Ibiki shouted.

It was quiet.

"For this test, each and every one of you will be put under a genjutsu and made to progress under... strenuous circumstances. The path before you will be clear. You will follow it. Failure to complete your objective in the allotted time of half an hour will cause you and your entire time to be disqualified from the exams. Dispelling the genjutsu will cause you and your entire team to be disqualified. If you are permanently prevented from completing your goal or succumb to your fears, you and your entire team will be disqualified. If you refuse to -"

The door opened, and a small, beady-eyed man rushed in and headed for Ibiki.

"What do you want?" the interrogator snarled. "I'm in the middle of explaining the exam."

The beady-eyed man reached the front of the room and whispered something to Ibiki.

Ibiki snarled. "Fine." He looked out over the class. "I have just been informed that, due to information previously withheld about some ninja behind revealed, we are required to provide an alternate exam to those of you who want to take it. Anyone who wants to take the alternate exam, go to room 202. I will be there shortly to proctor it."

"What's the alternate exam?" asked a ninja in front of Naruto.

"You'll just have to find out!" Ibiki yelled. "Anyone who's going, hurry up and go!"

A large number of people, including both of the people sitting next to Naruto, got up and made their way to the back of the room to exit.

"Alternate exam," Ibiki growled. "Back when I was taking the Chuunin Exams, there would never have been talk of an 'alternate exam'. If you didn't like the one given, then you could wait another six damned months. Someone get Kurenei Yuhi in here!"

Several minutes later, an explosion of smoke heralded the entrance of the female Jounin. There was a hushed conversation between her and Ibiki before he straightened and addressed the gathered Genin again.

"As I was saying, if you refuse to move forward in the genjutsu, you and your entire team are disqualified. I'll be putting the genjutsu on you shortly. Kurenei and my three assistants will monitor your progress. Are there any questions?"

Nobody spoke up.

Ibiki was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I'd like to say that I've some modicum of respect for all of you. You actually had the guts to stick with this test." He performed several hand signs, and Naruto's world went black.

* * *

_(Naruto's Genjutsu)_

"_-can't, Naruto! You can't! They've got her, and we don't have time to save her!"_

_Naruto blinked. He was suddenly aware of several facts. The first, Kiba Inuzuka was in his face and yelling, spraying droplets of spit all over Naruto with each word. Second, they were in the Land of Earth. Third, Tsumeki had been captured and taken to a garrison. Fourth, a high-priority spy was being interrogated and needed to be saved. Fifth, the spy was in the opposite direction of the garrison._

"_I can't just leave her!" Naruto found himself yelling back. "They could kill her!" _

"_And the spy could spill the beans on our other spies in the Land of Earth! And some of our spies in other nations, as well! Is one ninja worth risking war with half the world?"_

"_YES! She's worth it! She's worth it all, worth everything, and worth more!"_

"_I don't have time for this. Do what you want. I'm going to save the spy."_

_Kiba left at a run, Akamaru on his shoulder._

_Naruto huffed and turned in the direction of the Iwa garrison. However, in the back of his mind, something nagged at him. He knew he needed to save Tsumeki, but there was something telling him to go with Kiba, and it wasn't just the mission. It was...something else. Something he had known before. But before what?_

_He shook his head. It didn't matter. He had to save Tsumeki. _

_He ran toward the garrison. _

* * *

_(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)_

"_Naruto, you take the right hallway. I'll take the left," Tsumeki said._

"_Right. After these hallways, we've checked the whole keep. Make your way out and meet at the rendezvous as soon as you finish, whether or not you find the plans."_

"_Yeah. See you then."_

"_Yeah."_

"_And Naruto?"_

"_What?"_

"_Tenten wasn't your fault. There was nothing we could have done to save her."_

"_...Yeah. I know."_

"_Let's go."_

_She, Naruto, and Tenten were on a mission to secure invasion plans from a fort in the Land of Lightning. While scouting the buildings around the keep, Tenten had set off a trap and been roasted alive. Naruto was taking it pretty hard. _

_Tsumeki swept from room to room. They were mostly empty; servants, children and the like were all that were left. Most of the guards were out in the fort proper trying to find them._

"_I swear, they aren't here..."_

_She had rifled through the last room and was about to leave, when a chill ran up her spine._

"_Something bad is -"_

"_**TSUME- mmmph!**__"_

"_Naruto!"_

* * *

_(Naruto's Genjutsu)_

_The garrison was mostly men-at-arms, so the transformation jutsu got him through the gate without a problem. He steered around the ninja as best he could, and he didn't draw any attention. He was able to walk right into the prison without so much as a security check. It was a bit lax. However, it became painfully evident why that was when the door slammed shut behind him and a portcullis was dropped. Three ninja were waiting for him, weapons drawn._

"_Well, this is awkward."_

"_Give it up, Uzumaki. Come quietly and we don't axe the girl."_

_Naruto stiffened. He couldn't just – but he had to... "Ugh." He dropped the transformation._

"_That's a good little bastard." The one that spoke came up and punched him in the face. His glove was segmented, and it dug into Naruto's skin and tore it open. However, the blood didn't well up as quickly as Naruto thought it would have. _

_It was almost as if he was in a..._

"_Of course," he said. "Genjutsu."_

_The Chuunin Exams suddenly came rushing back. How had he forgotten? The genjutsu must have been very powerful to block out part of his memory like that._

_But if it was a genjutsu, that meant none of this was real._

_And it meant that he was currently failing the test._

"_Shit."_

_Naruto jumped back and drew his sword. _

_The Iwa ninja scowled and attempted to dogpile him. _

_Naruto jumped to the side and planted his feet on the wall. He used it to launch himself back at __the enemies. He managed to sink his sword into the skull of one of them on his way by. He had to take a hand off of the hilt of his katana to brace himself as he impacted the other wall. _

"_Shadow clone jutsu!" _

_Three more Narutos appeared in the hallway. The Iwa ninja were dispatched shortly. _

_The real Naruto dropped to the ground and paced for a moment. "Think, think, think, how to get out of here..."_

_He snapped his fingers. Two of the clones dissipated. Naruto transformed into the image of one of the ninja he had slain. The remaining clone channeled chakra through his sword and sliced through the portcullis and door, busting out into the fort proper._

"_Get him! Don't let him escape!" Naruto yelled after the clone._

"_Naruto?" Tsumeki's voice echoed down the halls. "Naruto, are you here? Come save me! Naruto!"_

_Naruto's heart wrenched and withered. He knew she wasn't real. He had to complete the objective, or his team would fail._

"_Naruto! Please, help! Don't leave me!"_

_Every desperate plea was a dagger through Naruto's heart. _

_But he had to press on._

* * *

_(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)_

_Tsumeki through her shoulder into the last door in the hallway Naruto had taken. When it didn't open, she slammed into it again. This time, it gave way under her assault._

_What she saw in the room made her scream. She wanted to puke, to run, to cry and wail, but she was fixed in place, horrified._

_Two gigantic spiders sat in the room, mandibles clicking together hungrily and dripping with venom and saliva. Naruto was pinned to the wall with web. His head hung low, unconscious. _

_There was a man in the room as well. He was laughing. "Oh, you like my pets, then? It really is a shame they have to be summoned. Were something this magnificent available here, why...I'd spend my whole life gathering them to my side. Can't move? You must have a very acute fear of the arachnid line. That is very pleasing to my black and scheming heart. It is. The total fear, the look of horror..." he inhaled deeply. "...The screams. I love the reaction my spiders bring. But, I suppose you're here for these?" He held up a stack of papers. "Well. I can't just let you have them, now, can I?" He whistled, and one of the spiders turned away from Naruto. For a moment, it's gaze focused on Tsumeki. All of its gleaming red eyes stared at her, penetrating her soul, her each and every fear. _

_Tsumeki screamed again._

_The man laughed, and the spider turned to him. "Eat," he said. _

_The beast devoured the plans greedily and, at his gesture, scuttled out the window and onto the side of the keep._

"_I do wish I could stay, but I need to inform the guard of your presence in the keep. I imagine the fourth member of your team is in here. I'd question the third, but she had an...unfortunate accident, didn't she?" He laughed, and went to the window himself. "Spider."_

_The second creature looked at him, mere inches away from its next meal. _

"_Kiss kiss." He hopped out of the window._

_At those words, its head snapped around and focused in on Tsumeki. It screeched and hissed, and scurried towards her at an alarming rate._

_Tsumeki screamed again._

* * *

_(Naruto's Genjutsu)_

_He had appropriated a horse from the garrison. In the confusion following his clone's attempted escape, it was easy enough to jump on the horse and get out – the clone opened the gate for him. Now, he was rushing towards the village in which the spy was being held. _

"_Shit shit shit, I'm going to cause our whole team to fail," Naruto said as he spurred the horse to move faster. _

_He had absolutely no idea how much real-world time had passed; did he have the time to save the spy? Did he need to extract the spy before his task was considered complete? Was he supposed to have forgotten that this was a test? Was he supposed to have remembered? There was no way to answer any of the questions he had. All he could do was move as fast as he could and close in on the town and the spy._

_Well, there was some calculation he could do. He had lost about forty genjutsu-world minutes going to the garrison and coming back. From where he had started, it would have taken a little more than twenty minutes to get to the spy. He was almost back at that point, and he was moving faster because of the horse. So, round that to about fifty minutes lost, give or take, and there was just one question to be asked: did they give him ample time to complete his task, or is he on a tight clock?_

_Again, a question that had no available answer. _

_Nothing to do about it but press on._

_Naruto arrived at the village to find the gateway wrecked. The ground and remains of the gate were charred, signifying Kiba's use of explosive tags. He rode through the debris and kept his eyes on the large building in the center of town. More likely than not, that's where the spy would be. _

_As his horse approached the building, Naruto stood up in the saddle. It was a tricky balancing game, but with some application of chakra, he figured it out. When he was maybe ten feet away from the building, he jumped from the horse's back and onto the wall, scrambling up it as fast as he could. He heard the horse's hooves digging into the dirt, and then the resuming of pounding hooves. It had veered off and continued down the street, it seemed._

_Naruto entered the building through a window and began to hurriedly scout it out. He didn't have to look for long to confirm that this was the correct building. Screams of pain echoed down the hallways from an upper level. Someone was being tortured. _

_He went back out the window and climbed two more floors up. Through a barred window, he saw Kiba and the spy tied up back-to-back. Kiba had his teeth bared and set against themselves; the spy was screaming. Both had wires hooked up to them. Torture by electrocution seemed to be the most probable cause of the pain, then. _

_Naruto drew his sword and channeled chakra through it to slice through the bars as he had the portcullis in the garrison. _

* * *

_(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)_

_Tears streamed down Tsumeki's face. She had run like a coward. She had left Naruto behind, all because of a stupid spider. She had lost it by shutting the door as she ran. It took the spider too much time to pry it open, and she had been able to hide. Her hand was clamped over her mouth to keep her sobs from revealing her position._

_She had to go back. She couldn't just leave Naruto to be eaten by that...thing. But the one with the plans...where had it gone? She needed to catch it, too. But how could she even face them? They were big, and hairy, and gross, and terrifyingly real..._

_Tsumeki calmed herself. She had to go back. The spider's small brain would protect it from genjutsu, but she could..._

_Well, there was an idea._

_Her claws were sharp as a kunai. She had hunted as a kit, and knew that it wasn't difficult to penetrate an animal's skull, given ample time. A spider's carapace shouldn't even be that hard to pierce through. She looked at her hand, and dropped the illusion disguising her appearance._

_She was a Kitsune._

_Why should she fear a mere spider, when she had the might to tear its legs off of its disgustingly hairy body?_

_Tsumeki bared her fangs and swung the door of the closet she was hiding in open. She screamed again, but this time, it wasn't for fear. This time, she screamed for rage, for hate, for the primal desire to _kill_. _

_She heard it coming faster than she would have had her true ears been under the illusion. She turned to face it. It came around the corner on the wall, hideous and hungry and weak. Tsumeki's vision started to haze over with red. Her prey had come to her, foolishly thinking itself the predator. _

_This time, she didn't scream. She roared. The spider hissed back and clicked its mandibles together several times. It rushed at her, and she jumped at it. She executed a midair flip to dodge it's lethal bite and landed on its back. She raised her right hand, palm open and claws pointed downward, and swung it down at the spider's head with all the strength she had. _

_The carapace of the spider yielded like soft flesh before her mighty blow. With a sickening _crunch_, she drove her hand clear through its exoskeleton and into its tiny little brain. She ripped it out and threw it down the hall. The spider fell instantly, venom leaking from its mouth, now with no working muscles to hold it back._

_Naruto would be safe. She had another spider to hunt._

* * *

_(Naruto's Genjutsu)_

_Seven guards lay dead on the ground. Naruto unhooked the wires from Kiba and the spy. _

"_I knew you'd come around," said Kiba. He opened a chest near his chair, and Akamaru leaped out. _

"_Yeah, yeah. You okay? You keep it all a secret?" Naruto asked the spy._

"_Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. I didn't spill the beans."_

"_Good. Let's get out of here."_

"_How?" Kiba asked. "The guards are going to be back in position soon, my attack wouldn't have kept them disrupted forever. They'll have the next shift up."_

_Naruto grinned. "Easy." _

_(A few moments later)_

_Naruto and Kiba, both transformed to look like a guard Naruto had killed, were hauling the "body" of the "dead" spy towards the gate. _

"_Halt!" yelled a guard from an alleyway. "Who goes?"_

_Naruto looked at him. "Interrogation squad. The wimp couldn't take much, and we laid it on a bit too hard. Going to dump the body."_

_The guard grimaced. "Did you get anything from him?"_

"_That's above your pay grade."_

_The guard inclined his head. "Right you are. I'll wave you through the gate."_

_He stepped out of the alley and pulled out a red flag. After a moment of waving it about, the gate, which was just another few hundred feet down the street, began to swing open. _

"_Thanks. I appreciate not getting held up at the gate. He's a tubby bitch."_

_The guard laughed. "That he is. Move along."_

_Naruto and Kiba dragged the spy out of the town and over a small hill. Once they were out of direct line of sight, the transformations were dropped. _

"_Thank you both, thank you so much," said the spy._

"_Not a problem. It's what we're here for," said Naruto._

_All of a sudden, the whole world elongated, and he had a strange yanking sensation on his chest..._

* * *

_(Tsumeki's Genjutsu)_

_She could smell the spider. She ran along the wall of the keep following its scent, which was getting stronger with each minute. It hadn't run far from the window. It seemed that it had scurried along the wall for a bit, only to head on top of the keep and – there it was. Just sitting there._

_Tsumeki growled a challenge, and the spider turned around. It was smaller than the first one she had killed, and wouldn't be anything that looked like a problem. It ran at her, and she let it come. It extended its head to bite, and she smacked it aside contemptuously. _

"_I am a Kitsune," she snarled at it. "You dare to think you can defeat me, even Tailless as I am?" She gripped both sides of the dazed spider's head and ripped it clean off of it's body. She gently set the head down; she had plans for it. She flipped the spider over and sliced open its body, searching for the stomach. She plugged her nose and poked it with a claw. It popped and deflated, letting out an odor pungent enough to make Tsumeki wince even with her nose plugged. She saw the plans right away; the stomach was mostly empty. The plans were somewhat dissolved, but still in decent enough condition. They may or may not be readable by the time she brought them back to the Hokage, so she memorized each and every letter that she could read before stowing them away. She grabbed the spider head and went to the edge of the keep's roof. She could see the ninja that had summoned the spiders from where she stood. She threw the head at him and went to get Naruto._

_All of a sudden, the whole world elongated, and she could feel a strange tugging sensation on her chest. Everything began to white out, but before it did, she heard a voice. She recognized it as Kurenei, Hinata's sensei._

"_Your secret is safe with me," Kurenai said._

* * *

Naruto lifted his head and looked around. It looked like he was one of the last ones awake – and also one of the last ones in the room. Perhaps a third of the test takers in the room remained.

"That is time," Kurenai said from the front of the room. "Genin forty-two through forty-four, you are dismissed. One of you failed to complete your objective. The same goes for..."

Kurenai listed off several more team's worth of Genin that had failed. Thankfully, Naruto's team was not among them.

"The rest of you, congratulations on passing the first test of the Chuunin exams. We will wait for about twenty minutes for the alternate exam to be complete, and then-"

Suddenly, there was a crash, and someone vaulted in through the window. Two kunai flew into the ceiling, and they supported a large banner which read, "Here comes the second test proctor: Anko Mitarashi."

There was a woman in front of the banner, presumably Anko. Naruto felt, more than saw, every guy in the room suddenly gravitate to one thing.

Well, two things.

"HEY!"

Naruto snapped out of the trance he was in (Anko's barely covered breasts were very distracting), and looked at the woman.

"Of course. None of you were listening. Whatever. At least you didn't leave many of them, Ibiki."

"Actually, Anko..." Kurenai came around the side of the banner. "Ibiki is conducting an alternate exam. He'll be finished in about twenty minutes."

"Alternate exam?" Anko blinked. "Are you telling me that I wasted my entry? Ugh! I only have one of these banners! Do you know how much time it takes to get it done up just right that I can enter like that?"

* * *

"All right," Naruto said. "Who should hang on to the scroll?"

They were in the second exam, now. The objective was to acquire one of each scroll – heaven and earth. Each team would get only one scroll, so at most half of the teams present could pass.

"I will," said Sasuke. "I'm the strongest out of all of us." He went to grab for the scroll.

Tsumeki beat him to it and plucked it out of Naruto's hand. "Yes, but you're not necessarily the strongest out of everyone, and all the brute strength in the world won't help if you can't see it." She flicked her hand around her back, tossing the scroll into her other hand and offering it to Sasuke. "Here. You take this one."

Sasuke looked at her as the she were stupid for a moment, and then tried to take the scroll. It disappeared as soon as it left Tsumeki's hand. "Wha-"

She giggled and produced an old, ratty-looking scroll. "This is our scroll. I put a genjutsu on it." She rolled her right hand, and an exact replica of what the scroll originally looked like appeared. "You hold on to the fake one. They'd expect you to have it. And that way, if we lose, they'll take the fake one."

Sasuke grumbled, but took the fake scroll and put it in a pouch. Tsumeki did the same with the real scroll.

"So," she said. "The Forest of Death, huh?"

"Sounds like fun," said Naruto. "A real blast."

"We need to figure out how we're going to get our other scroll," said Sasuke.

"Right," said Naruto. "An ambush sounds like a good plan."

"We need a place to set an ambush up at, first," said Tsumeki.

"We should find a water source," said Sasuke. "A little further in. Everyone needs water, so waiting in the trees near water would be good. Tsumeki can disguise us with a genjutsu."

"Good idea," Tsumeki replied. "And we shouldn't pull any punches, either. Even if the team has a Heaven scroll, we should still jump them to weed the competition out. It'll mean less people in the third test, you know?"

"Not a bad thought," said Naruto. "It'd be nice if that wasn't necessary, but we have to play to win here, don't we?"

"Enough chat," Sasuke said. "We need to get moving. Has anyone been in this forest before?"

Naruto and Tsumeki both shook their heads.

"Then we need to find water," Sasuke said. "Let's go."

* * *

_(several hours later, POV shift – Tsumeki)_

Tsumeki was incredibly tired, but she couldn't sleep. Both Naruto and Sasuke were unconscious from their fight with somebody named Orochimaru – that was all Sasuke could grunt out when Tsumeki finally found them before he collapsed. She had been separated from him and Naruto by a torrential wind, which she was sure originated from a jutsu. After that, she had to execute an escape from a trio of Sand ninja, which took a considerable amount of time.

Naruto looked fine – he had just been knocked out, from what Tsumeki could tell. He took a bit of a beating before that. He still had a death grip on his sword, which she had been unable to pry from his hands no matter how hard she tried. When he woke up, he'd be fine.

It was Sasuke she was worried about. He was very low on chakra, and there was something on the back of his neck. It was a weird mark that looked kind of like the tomoes that appeared when he activated his Sharingan. Slightly less bothersome, but still odd, were the two fang marks that looked like a snake's love bite. The fake scroll was also gone, which Tsumeki took to mean the ploy had worked. With a smirk, she went to dispel her genjutsu, only to realize that it was no longer active.

_That's...worrisome. _

"God, Naruto, please wake up soon. I need some sleep." She fell back and leaned against the trunk of the hollowed tree she had hidden her comrades in. "I am sodamnedtired."

"Well, well, well, what have we here?"

Tsumeki groaned. "Not now. Please?"

"A lone, exhausted Kunoichi, it looks like."

"That's what it appears to be, Kin."

"Go away! I don't want to play right now."

"Do you hear this?"

"We all hear it, Zaku."

Tsumeki growled. "LISTEN, SHITBAGS! I AM NOT IN THE MOOD TO PUT UP WITH YOUR DUMBASSERY RIGHT NOW, SO BUGGER OFF BEFORE I BREAK MY FOOT OFF IN YOUR ASSES!"

Three ninja, each with the Hidden Sound headband, dropped out of the trees.

"You could stand to be more polite," said one who looked like a mummy.

"You could stand to kindly go away," Tsumeki said. "I don't feel like getting up."

"Don't feel like," taunted the female, Kin, "or can't?"

"Son of a bitch," sighed Tsumeki. "This is happening, isn't it? All right." She stood up.

The non-mummified male chuckled. "Don't worry, it won't take long."

"No, it won't," Tsumeki agreed. Acting as quickly as she could, she threw two Kunai, one at the woman and one at the mummy in the middle, and sprinted to her right to charge Zaku, the normal male.

Zaku smirked and leveled his arms at her. "Decapitating Airwaves!"

Tsumeki found herself being propelled backwards, and she crashed against a tree.

"Pathetic," Zaku spat.

Tsumeki got back up and made like she was running at Zaku. However, at the last second before he used his jutsu again, she jumped left to attempt to pounce the mummy.

The mummy, who was not expecting her attack, had a foot firmly planted in his face, and Tsumeki used this foot to springboard into an attack on Kin. The female sound ninja was more prepared, after watching her teammate serve as free momentum, and moved out of the way. Tsumeki hit the ground and went to rebound onto Kin, but a piercing noise filled the air and she fell to her knees.

"Aaaaaagh!" she yelled.

The mummy had his arm raised, revealing some sort of metal contraption under his sleeve that he was using to produce high-pitched sounds.

"Really now, this is just sad," the mummy said. He flicked the metal piece again, and Tsumeki fell to the ground.

"N...no..."

The sound ninja laughed. "Where's all your cockiness now, bitch?" asked Zaku.

However, the image of imminent defeat was not what Tsumeki was saying 'no' to. She felt her grip on her concealment illusion failing. Her human ears disappeared, and two furry triangles sat atop her head. Her fangs elongated to their true length, and her claws became fully extended.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Kin. "What...what is she?"

"I don't know," the mummy said. He sounded alarmed.

The ringing noise stopped.

Tsumeki's eyes snapped opened, revealing them to be blood red. She didn't hesitate to launch off of the ground at the nearest ninja, who happened to be Kin. Kin caught a fist to her face and was sent spinning to the ground.

The Kitsune growled, ears plastered down to her head. She leaped again and headbutted the still-surprised mummy, and she felt his nose break under her skull's onslaught. She dug her claws into the mummy's shoulders and used him to propel herself into Zaku, who didn't have his arms raised in time. She flipped over him to a position behind him and put him in an armlock. She swiftly ended said armlock by punching into his elbow, hard. The arm broke, and he screamed. Tsumeki lifted her claws, intent to incapacitate him fully, when the mummy began to yell.

"Enough, stop! We give!"

Tsumeki held and glared over her shoulder at the mummy.

He pulled an earth scroll out of his pocket. "You need scrolls! Here! Take ours! Just let us go!"

Tsumeki dropped Zaku and stalked over to the surrendering ninja. She snatched the scroll out of his hand and hissed at him, "You will tell nobody what you've seen, or I _will _come and kill you. Brutally." She reestablished the concealment illusion.

"Nothing. Not a word. I promise."

"Get your friends and go."

The mummy gathered his two stunned comrades and ran away.

Tsumeki stood for a moment before collapsing to her knees. "Whew." _I don't know how much longer I could have fought. I'm exhausted._ She had an odd feeling brewing in her. It was as if she were almost...complete. But it was fading, and she wasn't sure what it was. She sighed and stowed the Earth scroll with its Heaven counterpart.

She heard footsteps and turned around to see Sasuke coming out of the hollowed tree. "Oh, good, you're..."

There was something wrong. His skin was covered with strange markings, and he was exuding an alarming amount of chakra.

"...up?"

"Fight me," he said.

"What?"

"Fight me!" Sasuke ran at her at a blinding speed. She barely managed to roll out of the way before he brought a mighty punch down at where she was.

_There's no way he should be moving that fast! He was just unconscious!_

Sasuke came at her again. She fell into a taijutsu stance and attempted to ward off his flurry of punches.

"Sasuke, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

"C'mon, c'mon! FIGHT ME!"

"You're crazy!"

She could barely keep up with his punches. She was exhausted and could feel her arms burning. Her body was getting ready to fail her. There was no way she could meet him punch-for-punch. He was far stronger.

_Well. That just means I have to be smarter._

Tsumeki dropped under his next punch instead of blocking it, sweeping her leg out in a low kick. Sasuke contemptuously jumped over her leg. She used the momentum to turn into a sideways roll and come up behind him.

"Clone jutsu!" she said. Illusory copies of her sprung to life in a total circle around Sasuke and began to run around him.

"Really? Illusions? Do you think this will defeat me?"

Tsumeki had dropped out of the running circle and put herself under a weak invisibility genjutsu. It was all the energy she could spare for the moment. She ran up a tree and spun around. This would be the optimal angle.

"The Sharingan can see through clones, idiot! I can tell which one is the real you!" He slowly turned. "And the real one is... None of them?"

Tsumeki sprung off the tree and began to spin in midair. Tired as she was, she had trouble keeping track of Sasuke's position, but she still managed to do it. As she neared ground level, she stuck one foot out. It came down in an axe-kick position squarely on top of Sasuke's head.

"Nngh," he said. The markings retreated from his skin, and he fell to the ground. He was unconscious again.

Tsumeki had about as graceful a landing. She felt sharp rocks dig into her arms as she unceremoniously hit the forest floor. She lay there for a moment, panting, before rolling onto her stomach.

"Have to...get...up..."

She managed to make it onto her elbows and knees when a sudden, shooting pain swept through her. Her eyes opened wide, and she had to fight to stifle a scream of agony. She felt her concentration slipping, and figured that her disguise was probably gone again. She grunted and groaned, and finally she could fight it no longer. A sharp scream permeated the forest, and she fell unconscious as well.

* * *

(POV switch – Naruto)

When Naruto came to, the first thing he noticed was the severe ache in his abdomen.

"Right...that's where that creep practically shoved his fist through me. Ughhhh." Naruto slowly got up, and noticed that he was in a hollowed out tree.

"Someone drag me here?" Still holding his stomach, Naruto stumbled for the hole in the side of the tree. "Hey, anybody out here?"

When he got outside, he noticed two things. First of all, it was very dark. Second, after his eyes adjusted, he noticed Sasuke and Tsumeki passed out next to each other.

And then he noticed her tail.

He walked closer, starting to be able to manage the pain more, and knelt down next to Tsumeki. Her tail was a vivid red, just like her hair, with a little white spot at the end. It had sprouted right out of her pants, from her tailbone (_Duh._)

"Tsumeki," he said, shaking her. "Hey, Tsumeki, wake up."

"Mmphh..." she mumbled in her sleep.

"Tsu, wake up. C'mon, wake up! You did it!"

"Unnngh?"

"Hey, wake up!"

"What? I'm awake, I'm awake. What?" She pushed herself off of the ground with one hand while she rubbed her eyes with the other.

"You did it!"

"Did what?"

Naruto grabbed her tail and lifted it up for her to see.

She stared at it for a moment, as if she didn't realize that it was attached to her. Then, a look of understanding crossed her face. "I did it," she breathed. She leaped to her feet, both fists in the air. "I DID IT!" She yelled. "Naruto, I did it! I got my first tail!"

His grin just about reached his ears and his heart swelled with pride. "You did!"

"What do I look like?" she asked. Suddenly, she was a decrepit old man, complete with cane and long, white beard.

"An old man."

She turned back into herself. "What do you see?"

Naruto blinked, and the Forest of Death was gone, replaced by an orchard of cherry trees. "I see-"

Suddenly, Tsumeki was there, too, beautiful, stunning, and gloriously nude.

"Ack!" shouted both Ninja at the same time. The illusion disappeared, and the Forest of Death was back, and so were Tsumeki's clothes.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto, that was an accident!" Her face was redder than her hair.

"Yup. Sure. Uh-huh. It's cool." Naruto's face was a shade to compete with hers.

"Oh, oh, try to look away!" In her palm, a cantaloupe-sized ball of blue flame appeared.

Naruto looked at it for a moment, and then tried to tear his gaze from it. His head made slow but steady progress, and when it reached the corner of his vision, he finally managed to jerk his head away.

"Oooooh, that's Foxfire! Foxfire, Naruto! I did it, I'm really a Kitsune now!"

"Yeah," Naruto said, rubbing his eyes to get ride of the afterimage of the flame. "Yeah, you did. But how?"

Tsumeki stopped for a moment. "Well, I fought off these three creeps from the Hidden Sound, but that wasn't it. After that...Oh, Sasuke came out and attacked me. I had to beat him while totally exhausted from the fight before. I think that's what got it for me."

"What? I'll kill him!" Naruto got to his feet, drawing his sword.

"No! Naruto, no, it's okay! I don't think – he wasn't all there, you know?"

Naruto stopped, but looked at her strangely. "How do you mean, not all there?"

"There was something going on with him. I think it had something to do with the mark on the back of his neck. Look, here it is."

Naruto sheathed his sword and looked at Sasuke's neck. "That definitely wasn't there before the exam."

"Yeah, I know. I think he might have gotten it in the fight with the guy that knocked you two out. Orochimaru or whatever his name was."

"He never said his – he must have mentioned it after I went out. I know Sasuke was up longer than I was."

Tsumeki's ears suddenly began to swivel about. "Naruto," she hissed. "We have to go. _Now._"

"All right. I'll grab Sasuke."

"No, I've got him. I'll tap my tail. Go!"

Naruto ran in the direction of the tower at the center of the forest and climbed into the canopy. Tsumeki followed shortly after, Sasuke on her shoulders.

* * *

They had reached the tower around sunrise of the second day of the test. Considering that the time limit was five days, they had done very well. There were some sleeping arrangements and stored rations at the tower to accommodate any Genin who arrived before the time limit was up. After as large a meal as they could manage, the whole of Team Seven had slept the second day away and awoke the third rested and ready to go. It was fortunate that they had, for the last of the teams to make it through did so on the third day. They had been called to gather in the main room of the tower shortly after the last arrivals.

"Man," Tsumeki said, stretching. "I can't wait to get home to my shower. I can feel every single piece of dirt on my skin." She had her concealment up again, and Naruto knew that she didn't want to. She had spent every moment she could admiring her new tail while on their way to the tower. Unfortunately, those moments had to end when Sasuke woke up, which was when they were about an hour from the tower.

"All right, everybody – *cough, cough* – listen up."

Any chatter that may have been floating about ceased, and all eyes went to the front.

"My name is Hayate, and I'll be your proctor for the – *cough, cough* – third exam. However, before we begin, there is – *cough, cough* – a matter to address. There are too many genin here to progress immediately to the third exam. We're going to have to hold a preliminary round to cut down the number – *cough, cough* – of Genin. If everyone would please go up to the next level," he gestured to the stairs on either side of the room that lead to a balcony, "we will announce who is fighting who via computer generation."

A large computer screen on the wall came to life. All that was on it was a large "VS" in the middle of an otherwise black screen.

"Would anyone – *cough, cough* – like to withdraw from the preliminary round?"

"I will," said one silver-haired ninja from Konoha. "I'm beat."

"Very well. You may leave."

The Genin smiled and went to leave the tower.

"Everyone else, please take position on the – *cough, cough* – upper level."

People made their way to the next level and mostly took position by village. As Naruto looked on those who were gathered, he noted that a lot of them were Konoha ninja.

The first match was between Sasuke and a Konoha ninja named Yoroi. As Sasuke went down to the main floor, Naruto heard Kakashi make a comment to him, but he didn't quite catch what it was. The match started off in Yoroi's favor, as he was using a jutsu to steal Sasuke's chakra. For reasons Naruto couldn't quite fathom, Sasuke didn't use any jutsu the whole time, but he did managed to beat Yoroi in the end with some really hard-hitting taijutsu.

The second match was between Shino and Zaku. One of Zaku's arms was in a cast, which Naruto understood to be Tsumeki's handiwork, so he only had use of one of his arms. Shino warned Zaku to give up, as he was outmatched, but the Sound Genin refused. Shino outmaneuvered him easily, and his bugs were instrumental in his victory. They plugged the tubes in Zaku's arms, so that when Zaku attempted to use his signature jutsu, the pressure backfired and nearly ripped his arms apart.

The third match was between a Konoha Genin named Misumi and a Suna Genin named Kankuro. It seemed Misumi had the clear advantage when he used some sort of limb elongation jutsu to put Kankuro in a hold that put the Full Nelson to shame, and threatened to snap Kankuro's neck if he didn't surrender. Kankuro didn't, but when Misumi tried to snap his neck, it was revealed that he was actually holding onto a puppet. Kankuro was controlling the puppet from inside the mummified package that his double had been carrying. The puppet snapped most of Misumi's bones, and Kankuro won the match.

Match four, or what would have been match for, was incredibly anticlimactic. The pairing was Ino versus a Suna ninja named Gaara, but Ino forfeited almost as soon as the pairing was up on the board. "I've seen him fight," she said. "There's just no way."

Match five was Tenten versus the third present Suna Genin, Temari. Despite being as proficient in weapons as Tenten was, Temari was her perfect counter; her giant fan and use of wind jutsu rendered all of Tenten's projectile combat useless, and Tenten was defeated with great contempt. Naruto and Rock Lee, one of Tenten's teammates, both took extreme offense to the poor treatment Temari gave Tenten, as she showed no respect for her defeated opponent, but they were restrained by threat of disqualification.

Match six was Shikamaru versus Kin, and it was an interesting match. Kin was adept in the use of senbon needles as weaponry, and she use combinations of senbon with and without bells attached to distract Shikamaru and allow her to score easier hits. She also used strings to ring the bells on senbon she had already thrown, which distracted Shikamaru further. In the end, however, Shikamaru defeated her through a rather comical usage of the Shadow Possession jutsu by making her hit her head on the wall and fall unconscious.

Tsumeki was up for match seven. Her opponent was Kiba Inuzuka. Tsumeki hopped over the railing to get to the first floor, landing gracefully and almost without a sound. Kiba, not to be outdone, did the same, though his landing was louder.

"May the best woman win," Tsumeki said, smiling.

"Wha – Hey!"

"Match Seven: Begin!" said Hayate.

Tsumeki refused to waste time, going straight in for an attack. She tried to punch Kiba, but he dodged remarkably quick.

"Slow down, girlie, I'm not ready yet. All-Fours jutsu!"

Kiba dropped down so that his hands and feet were all on the ground. His fingernails grew out into claws, and his teeth into fangs. He took off at an incredible speed and surprised Tsumeki with a full-body tackle. Tsumeki was sent tumbling across the floor.

"That's...tch...some impressive speed you've got there," she said. "Let's see if you can keep up with me."

Tsumeki flickered for a brief moment, but Naruto was fairly sure what had happened. She had dropped the normal concealment and replaced it with a full Kitsune Illusion. She had told him that she couldn't use the concealment while tapping her tail. It made sense – now she could make full use of her abilities without compromising her identity.

However, just from the speed at which she was moving, Naruto knew she wasn't tapping her tail just yet. This was the speed she usually moved at when she had full use of her Kitsune powers and wasn't hindered by the human concealment. She and Kiba began to trade blows, but neither could land a match-winning hit that would knock the other out. After a particularly loud clash, from which both parties landed somewhat ungracefully, Kiba turned to his dog Akamaru, who was sitting off to the side of the arena.

"Akamaru! Come here!"

The dog ran to his master's side and faced Tsumeki, growling viciously.

"Listen, Kiba, I know this is a fight and all, but I don't want to hurt your dog, okay? Leave him out of it?"

That wasn't a taunt, Naruto knew. Tsumeki didn't want to hurt an animal that small if she didn't have to.

"Fat chance! Beast clone jutsu!"

There was a poof of smoke, and where Akamaru had been was a clone of Kiba using the All-Fours jutsu.

"Oh, this should be interesting."

"C'mon, Akamaru! Fang over Fang!"

Kiba and Akamaru took off at Tsumeki and then leaped into the air and spun. They were spinning so fast that they appeared to simply be giant streaks of gray racing towards the redhead.

Naruto's eyes widened. He knew that, spinning that fast, any impact could be a game changer.

Tsumeki was left with no choice other than to dodge. She jumped around the arena for several minutes, maneuvering around the Fang over Fang as best she could. Kiba and Akamaru would stop occasionally, presumably to regain their sense of balance, but it wouldn't be long before they would launch their assault again.

"You can't run forever!" Kiba yelled.

"And you can't spin forever!" Tsumeki yelled back.

Naruto could see the gears spinning full speed in Tsumeki's head as she figured the best way to combat the Inuzuka and his dog.

"Oof!"

It seemed like that was it. One of them had managed to hit Tsumeki with the Fang over Fang. She was holding onto her stomach, which looked pretty cut up.

Kiba stopped spinning and stood in a victorious stance over her. "Surrender now, and I won't have to hurt you more," he said proudly.

"Not a chance," she said. And then, she rocked backwards and launched a full speed kick.

Right into Kiba's testicles.

"Don't leave yourself exposed, dumbass."

Kiba doubled over in pain and Tsumeki, still hanging on to her stomach with one hand, put a kunai to his throat.

"Winner of the match – *cough, cough* – is Tsumeki Shuro," said Hayate.

Tsumeki smiled, still pained, and put her kunai away. She managed to stand and make her way back up to the second level. Kiba had to be assisted to his feet by Hayate.

In match eight, it was Naruto's turn. He was paired up against Hinata, who he only really knew by extension through Tsumeki.

They met down in the arena.

"Don't pull any punches, okay, Hinata? I want to see the Jyuuken in full power!"

Hinata nodded, a touch meek. "O-okay."

"Match eight – begin!"

Hinata activated her Byakugan right away and dropped into the Gentle Fist stance.

_Now, how am I going to fight against someone who's fighting style is designed to shut me down... Well, there's a good way to start._

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Fifteen Narutos were present in the arena, and they all rushed Hinata at once. To her credit, she was an accomplished and agile fighter. She managed to bend over backwards – literally – to dodge a lot of attacks that Naruto was sure were going to hit. The clones didn't stand a chance. They were torn to pieces by the Jyuuken, and Naruto had to pull back to reassess his strategy.

"You're pretty good, Hinata!" he yelled.

She didn't respond. She was focused in on the fight. She ran at Naruto and began to attack him before he could really prepare himself. Naruto knew he couldn't block the hits Hinata was sending his way, and instead had to settle for sidestepping and deflecting. He knew that whatever happened, he could not afford to take even a single direct hit from her, as it would leave whatever part of his body she struck useless.

"Come on, Naruto!" Tsumeki yelled from the stands. "You don't want to make that three women that can kick your ass to the curb!"

"Not helping, Tsumeki!" he yelled back.

It seemed like Hinata's attacks were speeding up. It was getting harder and harder to dodge them, and Naruto wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep up much longer. Then, she faked him out with an attack to his arm, which actually went to his stomach. She landed her fist squarely in the center of his gut, and he stumbled backwards and fell to a knee.

_I can feel my chakra not circulating properly, _he thought. _There's no way I'm going to pull off any jutsus like this. _

Hinata began to press her advantage. Regretfully, Naruto knew there was only one way that he would be able to fight her.

"You might want a kunai, Hinata," he said as he drew his sword.

Her eyes widened, and she backed off to draw a kunai.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this," Naruto said. "I'd rather not use my sword on anyone who isn't actually an enemy, but I can't just lose here. I need to give it my all. You understand, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. I get it. You can't let yourself down by giving up, and by not using everything y-you can, it'd be a form of resignation."

"Yeah. Like I said, I'm sorry."

He closed in on Hinata and brought his sword down in an overhead swing. Hinata lifted her kunai and let it simply redirect the force of the blow. The sword slid off of the knife, but Hinata's grip on it was loosened for a moment. Naruto rained blows down on her, and she continued to deflect as best she could. Naruto came in for another overhead swing, and he knew as soon as she lifted her hands that the sword would come down on her fingers at the angle she was moving. He flipped the sword around in his hands, and the blunt back of the blade cracked across her fingers. She gasped in pain and dropped her kunai. Naruto quickly moved in, spun around, and lunged with the pommel of his sword. He hit Hinata square in the stomach, and she fell down. He turned around and put the flat of his blade against her throat.

"Call it, Hinata."

She nodded. "I-I forfeit."

"Winner of the match: Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto sheathed his sword and helped Hinata up. "Sorry for any damage to your fingers."

"T-they might be cracked, b-but I'll b-be fine."

"Good fight, Hinata." He extended his hand.

She nodded, smiled shyly, and shook his hand. They both returned to the stands.

In the ninth match, Rock Lee fought against his teammate Neji. It was a good fight, and Rock Lee certainly performed, but he couldn't deal with the Jyuuken's ability to shut down limbs. Rock lee was defeated and Neji advanced to the finals.

The final match was Chouji against Dosu, the mummy from the Sound team. Chouji had a novel idea and used a body mass expansion jutsu to cover his ears with his body and attempt to roll over Dosu, but it was a vain attempt. Dosu simply used the fluids in Chouji's body to transmit his sound waves and won that way, concluding the preliminary round.

Hayate coughed. "That will conclude the preliminary rounds. The third exam will be one month from Friday, and you will compete in the stadium. You have – *cough, cough* – the time between the tests to train as you see fit. You are dismissed."

* * *

**All right. FINALLY finished with this damned chapter. I'm sorry it took so long, guys. I had a hell of a time figuring out the beginning. I probably wrote and scrapped and rewrote it forty times, and that is not an exaggeration. That's also not including variations of the same beginning that I attempted. Yeah, I tried that many openings to the chapter. To be brutally honest, I don't even really like this one, but it's the best I've got. **

**As always, please review and tell me what you thought and ask any questions you have. I'll do my best to answer them. I'll try to get the next chapter out faster than this one, but I can't make promises. Also, as an added bonus, I'll let you know that this chapter is almost four thousand words longer than the previous record holder, with this chapter clocking at almost thirteen thousand words.**

**Anyways, again, review and I'll see you next time around.**


	5. Chuunin Exams: Part Two

**All right, so there are a few things I want to cover here. First off, several of you voiced concern about the Lee vs Neji fight. While I understand that Lee does have the capability to beat Neji, I, personally, believe that this capability comes from the chakra gates. I take support from that in canon, Lee was unable to beat Neji, and that I don't see Lee being allowed to use the gates in a situation such as that. I made that decision for the additional reason that, at the time, I wanted Neji in the final rounds so that he could fight Tsumeki. I didn't end up doing that, and decided to... well, you'll see. Also, some issues came of Naruto's fight with Hinata. I'll go over my thoughts on that briefly. Naruto doesn't want to use his sword against people he doesn't intend to kill, because it is a very dangerous weapon. He waited until taking the hit from Hinata to use it because at that point, he saw no other alternative with which he could defeat her. Also, the bit with him reversing the sword to crack the blunt edge over Hinata's hand was less skill and strategy and more, "Oh shit, oh shit, if I don't do something, I'm going to chop her fingers off." Looking at it now, I probably should have just had him pull the hit, but, it's out there. Oh well.**

**The last thing I want to cover is an announcement. Please, don't misunderstand me and think I'm being angry or mean or belligerent or whatever. This is said in a totally mild tone, with no hostile intentions. I've had a couple people tell me that they have objections to my fic grounded in events from canon. I'd like to take a moment to say that if deviation from canon bugs you, I would stop reading now, because by the time that I'm done with this, it won't look a damned thing like Kishimoto's Naruto, and that's a promise.**

**NOTE: SEVERAL FIGHTS IN THE CHUUNIN EXAMS ARE NOT COVERED. ASSUME THEY WENT AS THEY DID IN THE ANIME/MANGA.**

**In this chapter, we get the final round of the Chuunin exams and the Sound/Sand invasion, and let me tell you, I am psyched to write the conclusion of this chapter. Have been for a very long time. That said, let's get right to it, you're probably sick of listening to me rant. If you guys even read these things, lol. **

* * *

"Just a second!" came Tsumeki's voice from the other side of the door. There was some rustling around, and she opened it. "Naruto," she blinked, "what are you doing here?"

"Been a while since we've eaten together," he replied, smiling. "Thought we might on account of being Chuunin Exam Finalists."

"Oh, I'd love to, but..." she looked down at her attire, which was wrinkled and had paint stains on it. "I haven't done laundry in a while. I don't have any good clothes."

"Just do a transformation. Make it look like you do. You're a ninja, Tsumeki, think like one."

"I had never thought of that. That's clever."

"I could be in just my boxers right now, and you'd never know."

Tsumeki scoffed. "Thanks, I needed that image. And trust me, Naruto, I would know."

"Yeah, you probably would. C'mon, lets go, I already made reservations."

She lifted an eyebrow. "Reservations? That's awfully fancy sounding."

"C'mon, how many times is this going to happen?"

"For me? Once. For you, on the other hand, is yet to be seen. Give me a second." She shut the door. Naruto heard, "Transformation jutsu!"

When the door opened again, Tsumeki was wearing a cherry red sundress with matching sandals. Naruto's heart leaped into his throat for a moment, but he managed to settle it rather quickly.

"Very nice," he said. "I like that it complements your hair."

"Thank you," she said. "You look rather charming as well."

Naruto had abandoned his usual fatigues for the night, going instead for an orange button-up shirt with black pants.

"Shall we go?" Tsumeki asked.

"We shall."

She locked her apartment door, and the two headed out of the building.

"So, where are we going?"

"I booked a table at that steak place on the other side of town."

"Oh, really? I've heard they're good."

"I've heard the same, hence us going there."

"What would you have done if I hadn't come? I mean, you said you had reservations, so that means there's a table for two in there somewhere."

"I'dve sold the other seat for a profit."

"Pfft," Tsumeki scoffed, "as if anyone would have bought it. I'm practically a saint for being able to sit through dinner with you."

"You never know. Hell, I never know. There could be legions of ladies tripping over themselves to have dinner with me, and neither of us would know until they ambushed us, killed you, and hauled me off to be molested and never seen again."

Tsumeki gave Naruto an odd look.

"What?"

"Naruto, the hell is wrong with you?"

"What isn't. It's a shorter list."

She threw her head back and laughed. Naruto shut his eyes for a moment and listened. This laugh was rare. Her usual laugh, if one managed to get her past a giggle, was somewhat high and still reminiscent of the lower levels of humorous reaction. This laugh was deep, rich, and satisfying to listen to. It struck a resonating note within Naruto's head, and it was pleasurable to listen to it, and even to the echoes off of the building walls in the less-crowded streets of twilight.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?" Her voice shook him from his trance, and with regret he left that rare laugh behind. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"No, you just had a funny look on your face."

"My face always looks funny."

"Well, yeah, but funnier than usual."

Naruto smiled. "Oh, it's nothing, I'm sure."

* * *

"Thanks for dinner, Naruto."

"Sure thing, not a problem."

"And hey, I didn't have to kick your ass for this one."

"Always a plus in my book."

They were heading back to her apartment. They had spent a little more than an hour at the restaurant, all things included. It was dark out, and the stars were peeking out from behind the clouds whenever they had a chance.

"How are you going to prepare for the third round of the Exams?" Tsumeki asked.

"I can't just tell you that. You could use it against me if we ended up fighting."

"We already know I'd win. What's the big deal?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and bumped her with his shoulder. Tsumeki staggered to the left a bit, off balance. She laughed and jumped back at him to shoulder him to the side as well. As a testament to his larger size, he recovered by simply bracing his foot against her charge.

"Seriously though. I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"Only if you go first," he said.

"Fine. I'm going to work on learning a fire jutsu or two. Something that might give me an edge over the other opponents. Y'know, it'll help me against the chick with the fan and her wind jutsu, and I could use them to ward of Shino's bugs, eliminate shadows that Shikamaru could use..." she shrugged. "It seems tactically sound, anyways."

"Yeah, that's not a bad plan. It could work."

"It could. Now, your turn."

Naruto sighed. "I'm really not sure." He looked up at the sky. "I'm going to work on my kenjutsu for sure, but I don't know how much I'm actually going to use my sword in a fight. I don't want to kill anyone, you know? And even if they had something to defend themselves with, I could cause permanent damage. You know, I almost cut off Hinata's fingers in our fight. It was a last minute save that kept them on her hand."

Tsumeki winced. "Yeah, I could see not using your sword."

"Yeah."

"But you've got to train in something," she said.

"I know. I have an idea of what I'm going to do."

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you," Naruto said, grinning mischievously.

"C'mon! I told you what I was going to do!"

"You did. And now I'm making like a ninja and using the information against you."

"That's not fair!"

"Not in the least bit."

"Naruto!" she said, stopping. He turned to face her and found that she was pouting.

_And she's being DAMNED adorable about it, _he thought.

"What?"

"You tell me right now, or I'm going home by myself."

He rolled his eyes. How could he say no? "Fine."

Immediately, Tsumeki jumped forward, and it was as if she had never been sad at all. "Okay, now tell me!"

"I think I'm going to create a jutsu," Naruto said.

Tsumeki raised an eyebrow. "That's ambitious."

"It is."

"Are you sure you can handle that? I mean, you _are_ just a Genin."

"And what better way to demonstrate that I'm ready to be a Chuunin than by creating my own jutsu? It'll impress."

Tsumeki nodded slowly as she mulled the thought over. "It very well could. That's actually not a bad idea. What's your jutsu going to do?"

"Dunno yet."

"What do you mean, you don't know? How can you create a jutsu if you don't know what it's going to do?"

"Dunno. I have a month to figure it out, though."

"You're going to need a lot more time than that," she said. "With your thick skull, any idea you have will spend half of the time you have trying to squeeze out of your head."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, well, we'll see what happens, won't we?"

"We will."

"All right, here we are. Try not to get mugged on your way up the stairs."

"Please. As if a mugger could do anything to me now. I have my first tail, remember?" She beamed at the last part of the sentence, immeasurable pride welling up in her.

Naruto smiled back. "You do. And I'm very proud of you."

Tsumeki hugged him. "Thanks, Naruto."

He hoped she couldn't feel his heart racing. "Yeah, no problem."

She looked up at him and smiled.

Before he knew what he was doing, Naruto had leaned down to kiss her. Tsumeki let out a surprised, "Mmph!" but she didn't push him away. She didn't kiss him back, either.

He pulled away, fighting down the blush he knew would be trying to fight its way up his face. From the lack of burning warmth, he figured he was doing fairly well.

She just stood there, a surprised look still on her face.

"So...uhm...yeah. Bye." Naruto spun on his heel and walked away as swiftly as he could.

He couldn't fight the blush anymore.

* * *

(POV Change – Tsumeki)

She stood there in the street, unmoving, for some time. Her brain seemed to have shut down as soon as he touched his lips to hers, and by the time it had rebooted, he was gone. She knew that he had left, and she remembered exactly how he had left, but she couldn't manage enough control over herself to call after him, or even to kiss him back. She touched her fingers to her lips, as if trying to keep any trace of him that might have been left behind from escaping.

"Ms. Shuro?"

Tsumeki turned to the entrance of her apartment building. Her elderly landlord was standing in the doorway. "Y-yes?"

"Why are you standing outside? You might catch a cold, and you wouldn't want that to cut into your practice for the Chuunin Exams."

"It's really not that cold out, sir. I'll be fine."

He chuckled. "You younglings can't always go about ignoring nature. She'll catch up to you someday, the old bitch. Come inside. At least you can stand dumbfounded in the lobby, where it's warm."

Tsumeki laughed a little bit, but she went inside, thanking her landlord for holding the door open for her, and went up to her room.

* * *

(POV Shift – Naruto)

(The next day)

Naruto was in the Ninja Wing of the library again. He sat on the floor with scrolls scattered around him. He was somewhere in the giant maze of bookshelves, and nobody else seemed to have made their way to where he was, so he figured that he may as well sit here to read over the material he had found.

It was looking rather grim. Making a jutsu was going to be every bit as complex as he had thought it would be, and then some. The jutsu he had in mind would be simple compared to other techniques, as it was mostly just chakra flow and manipulation, but it would still be hard. Doubly so since this form of chakra flow was different than what he did with his katana, and he didn't even know if it was entirely possible. One of the scrolls he had set to the side had hinted that something similar might be possible, but it was vague on the point and listed no jutsus which produced an effect that was moderately close to what he was planning.

The real trick was figuring out the proper hand signs. Since different hand signs molded chakra in different ways, he'd have to figure out which ones would result in the end product he desired – obviously – so that he could start working on actually figuring out how to mold the chakra. With that thought, Naruto abandoned all other parts of the jutsu except the hand signs until he could figure them out.

"Ox...bird...rat...None of those are what I need. Dog? No, wait, wouldn't ox work? Yeah, ox is what I need, I think. Then maybe...ram? Yeah, we'll try ram, that could work...And tiger, too, that'll be an important one, I think."

Naruto continued to jot down (on his own scroll, of course) the hand signs he thought would be instrumental in figuring his jutsu out. Really, though, it'd be as much trial and error as anything. Even if he got all of the hand signs he needed, he still had to figure out the order he would put them in and then some might need to be repeated, and he still had to actually perfect the jutsu.

And he had a month to do it.

Naruto stopped for a moment, sighed, and returned to work.

* * *

(POV Change – Tsumeki)

It really did need to be taken care of. With this kind of investment, she couldn't allow the issue to sit. She didn't particularly want to, because it was a bother and she had better things she could do (_such as, oh, I don't know, TRAINING_). But, there was nothing to be done for it. She knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Tsumeki opened the door and winced a little bit. The bright, angry white of hospital rooms had always hurt her eyes, even when her sight was dulled by the concealment.

"Is it that bad?"

"No, the room is just really bright to me."

"Oh. Okay. What brings you here?"

Tsumeki shut the door. "May I sit down?"

"Of course."

Tsumeki walked to a chair that was next to the hospital bed and sat down. "It's just a matter I'd like to clear up between us."

"What do you mean?"

"It's about Naruto."

Tenten blinked. "Naruto?"

"Yeah."

"What about Naruto?"

Tsumeki leaned forward and looked Tenten in the eye. She made sure that her tone and expression were as gravely serious as possible. "He's mine."

Tenten frowned. "Says who? He isn't property."

"Says me." _And the fact that he kissed me last night, _she thought, but she kept that to herself.

"What, are you two dating now?"

"No, not yet, but -"

"Well, if you're not dating, then he isn't yours. I can make a move on him if I want to."

Tsumeki suppressed a growl. It was difficult. "No, you can't. He's mine, and that's not just me saying that. He's interested in me. Not you."

"And how would you know that?" Tenten snapped. "You aren't a mind reader. You're no Yamanaka. I have as much claim to him as the next girl."

This growl was much more difficult to subdue than the last. "No. You don't. Continue down this path, and we will have problems."

"If you wanted him, then you should have made a move on him before we started training together," Tenten said. "We've grown quite close. Closer than the two of you, I'm sure."

Tsumeki felt the concealment flicker. She was losing her temper. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Your back is still healing. I'll not stop you while you're infirm. Make good use of the time, because when you are out of that bed, we are at war."

"Fine by me," Tenten snapped. "Now, if that's all, kindly get out of my room."

"You don't have to ask me twice." Tsumeki slammed the door on the way out. "I'll kill her," she mumbled.

_No, _she thought. _Don't kill her. Break her. You have all of the tools necessary to stop her foolish chasing of Naruto._

"Yeah, break her," she whispered. "Make her unable to bear the thought of..."

Tsumeki stopped. _Dear God, _she thought. _What am I thinking? Making a move on Naruto or not, she's his friend. Beyond that, she's a Leaf Ninja – a comrade in arms. I can't just break her mind. That'd make me no better than..._

She frowned. "Well, we can't stoop to that level, now, can we," she said to herself. "Looks like we'll just have to do this the mortal way and get Naruto first."

Tsumeki looked back at Tenten's door. _Maybe I should apologize, _she thought.

"No, that much is done. Make amends later – after you're with Naruto."

_Right._

As she made her way out of the hospital, she renewed the promise she had made to herself when she was but a kit.

_I will never turn into him._

* * *

_One Month Later_

The Hokage was saying something, but Naruto wasn't particularly listening. He was incredibly nervous. There had been talk that the matches had to be rearranged at the last minute, meaning Naruto might not be fighting Shikamaru like he had originally thought. That left any number of possibilities, and few of them were good. He could be put up against Neji, which would be an unmitigated disaster. Naruto beat Hinata by a fluke; Neji was regarded as one of the most adept users of the Jyuuken in generations. Naruto had no doubt that his whole chakra network would be shut down within a few minutes of the match starting.

Another alternative would be Shino, which was almost as bad as Neji. Sure, Shino wouldn't shut down his chakra, but his bugs ate it. They'd drain Naruto just about dry, and he'd lose the match by merit of chakra exhaustion. Sure, if he had some wide-area jutsu, he might be able to do something about it, but he didn't, so it was a moot point.

He could also be put up against Tsumeki. That wouldn't be as terrible as the previous two options, but Naruto couldn't deny that it wasn't terribly likely that he'd beat her. He only had a basic grasp of dispelling Genjutsu, and he had no idea where to start with Kitsune Illusions. And he also couldn't forget that she had a tail to tap, now. Even if he wore her down, she could just hit her tail up and then she's back in the game, not only rejuvenated, but stronger and faster as well.

If, somehow, he managed to fight Shikamaru anyways despite all this, it would likely mean his most likely win. The Shadow Possession Jutsu was a nasty one, but it was avoidable and beatable. Plus, his Shadow Clone Jutsu would be of great help; Shikamaru wouldn't know which one to possess. Naruto silently prayed that this was the outcome.

Sasuke was another fight that'd be tough, but he wasn't here. There was talk that if he didn't show up for his fight, he'd be disqualified. Being the last remaining Uchiha and the somehow hero of the village by merit of being a 'traumatized orphan' (_Every orphan is traumatized, assholes_), that was not desired. His fight against Gaara was the anticipation of many in the audience, residents of Suno and Konoha alike.

Gaara. There was someone Naruto was truly terrified to fight. He hadn't seen him fight – Ino had forfeited in the preliminaries, when he would have seen Gaara's fighting style – but he had heard that Gaara could bend sand to his will, and to destructive effect. Naruto wasn't sure what the extent of that effect was, but he wasn't keen to find out. Not to mention the guy was a freaking psychopath.

Temari was a fight that Naruto wanted. Regardless of the difficulty, the Sand Ninja had treated Tenten like shit, and seemed to have little respect for her opponents. Naruto couldn't let that treatment of his friends stand. He wanted to teach her a lesson.

Kankuro, the last Sand Ninja, Naruto was leery about fighting. He knew that Kankuro somehow controlled puppets in battle, but he wasn't exactly sure how, and so he couldn't exactly counter it. Moreover, he had no idea what the puppet Kankuro had was capable of, other than crushing all of the bones in Naruto's body. That'd be a fight to use the sword in; he could safely dismantle the puppet with chakra flow and not have to worry about killing anybody. Perhaps having that fight wouldn't be so bad.

Dosu, the Sound Ninja who had made it to the finals, was missing. Naruto wasn't too concerned about it; he hadn't wanted to fight Dosu anyways. Those sound-based techniques weirded Naruto out, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of them. The problem with Dosu being missing was that there were now only nine contestants, meaning something odd was going to happen.

Even considering all of these potential fights, however, what made Naruto the most nervous was the aftermath of the third test. He hadn't talked to Tsumeki since they had gone out to dinner and he had kissed her. He hadn't been avoiding her, but with both of them not only training, but trying to train in places where they couldn't be spied on, they simply hadn't seen each other. He didn't know if that was good or bad. On the one hand, it could make everything go a touch smoother – both of them have had time to think on the matter (_God knows I've spent far too much time dwelling on it_) and how they might respond to the other when they finally had some time to talk. On the other hand, she might have been fuming with rage for the past month, each passing day only adding peppers to the stew. And Naruto didn't want to see the result of thirty days of peppers.

The Hokage had finished talking, and Naruto figured it'd be a good time to tune back in to what was happening. The proctor took over – and it wasn't Hayate, which Naruto found quite odd – and began discussing the rules of the tournament. Essentially, there were no rules except that if Genma (that was the proctor's name) decided to step in and stop a fight, it would stop then and there. No objections, no complaints. Then, he pulled out the list of matches.

"Look it over," he said.

The first thing that Naruto noticed was that Neji was getting a by. It made sense; with nine contestants, someone would either have to fight another battle or be given a freebie. It seemed that Neji's name was the one that was drawn, or perhaps selected, to not fight in the first bout. The first fight would be between Shikamaru and Temari. That'd be an interesting one; Temari seemed to have a good grasp on offensive jutsu, while Shikamaru's jutsu were extraordinarily... utility-oriented. Fight two would be Shino versus Kankuro, which could also prove to be a spectacle. The Aburame usually relied on their bugs to incapacitate enemies, but how would he deal with an inanimate puppet? Naruto figured that they'd find out. The third fight was the one that drew Naruto's eye the most, however.

_Naruto U. vs Tsumeki S., _the paper read.

_Shit, _Naruto thought. He chanced a glance at his redheaded teammate. She flashed him a foxy, mischievous smile and winked at him. Naruto had scarcely felt as threatened in his life as he did that moment. Tsumeki's expression held nothing but tricks and misfortune within. He prayed that there were no peppers involved in it.

Naruto didn't look back at the paper. He knew that the last fight would read _Sasuke U. vs Gaara_, and he had already figured that would be happening. The Hokage himself wouldn't cancel such an anticipated fight for rearrangement. He'd be deposed.

The worst part of the whole damned thing is that Naruto hadn't finished his jutsu.

* * *

He supposed the previous fights had been interesting. Or, rather, previous fight. Kankuro had forfeited to Shino before the fight even started. Nobody knew why. Shikamaru had tried for forfeit, but the Leaf Ninja in the Contestants' Box wouldn't let him. He actually showed an uncanny intellect during his fight with Temari. Naruto knew that he was smart, but that fight... it had been like watching a game of chess. Shikamaru played five turns ahead, and Temari went for the obvious takes. Shikamaru might have even won if he had actually trained some more. He had forfeited due to low chakra reserves and an inability to defeat his opponent in the little time he had left. Regardless of that, Naruto had been thoroughly impressed by Shikamaru's ability to compete with such an offense-based ninja and was reconsidering the likelihood of a victory against the Nara.

It wasn't the time for idle thinking, though. He was currently standing about twenty paces from Tsumeki, and he needed to kick his brain into overdrive to figure out the best counters for her techniques.

"Naruto Uzumaki versus Tsumeki Shuro," Genma announced. "Match three: Begin!"

Naruto immediately drew and threw a kunai. It didn't go far; it was purely meant to deflect the kunai he knew Tsumeki would throw, and it did its job admirably. Tsumeki ran straight for him. Naruto felt a taijutsu engagement coming, but he also had a nagging feeling in the back of his brain that this was oddly direct for Tsumeki, who would usually prefer to eliminate her opponents with as much distance and as little physical effort as possible.

He didn't have time to contemplate the thought, because she was right on top of him. She let out a barrage of punches at incredible speed; her taijutsu style had already focused on the number of attacks she could get out rather than the raw force behind them, but achieving her first tail seemed to amplify both counts. A single punch wouldn't knock Naruto off his feet, but seven of them would, and with the wave of attacks rolling at him, he knew that seven punches would be a mean feat. Normally, he'd do a hard block in a taijutsu situation, because he'd bruise the enemy more than he'd be bruised himself, but Naruto knew that a hard block would not be adequate for multiple incoming attacks. He settled with deflection; as her fist came in, he would simply push it to the side or sidestep it altogether. When he couldn't do either of those, he risked the hard block. It usually paid off, but several punches got through, and Naruto's chest felt a tad sore.

As the next round came in, Naruto threw Tsumeki for a bit of a loop. Instead of fully deflecting her punch, like she expected him to, he pushed it to the side somewhat, then grasped her wrist and pivoted hard, hauling her hand down over his shoulder. She flipped over his back and hit the ground hard on her back. She tried to kick at his face, but he used his grip on her to roughly jerk her to the side, sending her kick off into the opposite direction.

"Hey, Naruto," she said.

"Mmm?" Naruto attempted to put Tsumeki in an arm bar.

"That kiss. What exactly did it mean?"

The question caught Naruto off guard, and she used his momentary hesitation to wriggle free of his grasp and roll out of his range.

"Are you sure now is the best time to talk about this?"

"Probably not, but I'm asking anyways." They had struck positions about ten feet away from each other. Neither moved, waiting for the other to begin the next engagement.

"It meant..." Naruto glanced around, looking at all the other people. "Tsumeki, I-"

A fist came up under Naruto's jaw, and he stumbled backwards, off balance. She followed up with a sweeping kick and brought Naruto's feet out from under him. When Naruto's vision refocused, Tsumeki was on top of him with a kunai to his throat. "I'm listening," she said sweetly.

There was a poof of smoke, and Naruto was replaced with a large rock from nearby.

"Heh," Tsumeki chuckled. "Where'd you go, Naruto? I was so looking forward to your reply."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Narutos erupted from behind a tree in the arena and rushed Tsumeki.

The Kitsune made several rapid hand signs. "Fire Style: Fire Breath Jutsu!" She exhaled a sizable cone of fire and swept it across the group of shadow clones. Within seconds, they were all gone. "That's another reason I looked up some fire jutsu, Naruto!" she called out. "I can cover a nice area with fire and get rid of all of your clones!"

Naruto gave no response.

Tsumeki jumped into the tree the clones had come from behind, but Naruto wasn't there.

"Come on, Naruto, this is no fun! Come out and play!" She stepped onto a branch, and there was a poof.

Naruto had transformed into a small tree branch in hopes of ambushing Tsumeki, and it had almost paid off. She jumped up and dodged his hands, which were reaching for her ankles. When she came back down, she landed on him, and they descended to the ground in a tumble. Even after the impact (and the brief loss of breath that came with it), they continued to wrestle for the dominant position.

"Well, Naruto?" she whispered while trying to dislocate his right arm. "What did the kiss mean?"

Naruto was trying to get Tsumeki under him and pin her with his weight. "Tsu-"

"Don't you DARE say it's not a good time," she hissed. She put more pressure on his arm. "What. Did. It. Mean?"

Naruto grunted and rolled, putting Tsumeki on the bottom. She wasn't face down, like he had wanted, but it was an improvement. "It means..." he grunted, and then sighed. "It means I kind of like you more than a friend, okay?"

She grinned. Naruto had to make sure he was focusing on the fight to avoid being dazzled by her. "Well, I kind of like you more than a friend too, Naruto. Now, why don't we give these people a _real _show?"

"Let's-"

Tsumeki used the substitution jutsu, and Naruto found himself on top of the same rock he had used earlier.

"-not." The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck prickled, and he trusted in his acquired sixth sense. Tsumeki was toying with him by trying to put him in a low level genjutsu. She did this enough to him that he could feel it. He didn't know if she knew that he could tell when a lower-level genjutsu was put on him, but regardless, he wasted no time. "Genjutsu: Release!" he said.

His hairs settled, and he stood up to see Tsumeki frowning at him. "That was awfully quick," she said. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," he lied.

"You're lying."

"Through my very teeth. Come on, Tsumeki. Let's not bore the audience with Genjutsu. Let's finish this match."

Her eyes glinted, and she grinned. Naruto could tell that her concealment wasn't up; it was a Kitsune Illusion disguising her appearance. He could tell because her teeth were a bit sharper and longer than a normal human's, obviously her taking what little pride she could in her heritage while hiding her appearance. "What do you have in mind?"

Naruto drew his sword and drove it into the ground. He backed up so that he and Tsumeki were equidistant from it. "First to the sword gets to use it."

"Dangerous."

"Very."

"On three?"

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!" they said together, dashing for the sword.

It was obvious to Naruto that she would arrive first, so he skidded to a halt early and began making hand signs. _Ox, tiger, ram, tiger, ox, dog... _he said in his head as he made each sign. Tsumeki had the sword, and was coming towards him rapidly.

"Now or never," he said. "Fierce Diety Jutsu!"

There was an audible fizzle and pop. Chakra ejected itself from several points on Naruto's body, but other than that, nothing happened.

_Still needs work,_ he thought.

Tsumeki leaped into the air with a chakra-assisted jump and yelled, "Surrender now, Naruto!"

"Not a chance!" he yelled back.

There was a poof, and Naruto's sword revealed its true nature.

It was a shadow clone.

The clone seized Tsumeki by the wrists and spun around once, launching her towards the ground. She hit it hard and skidded a bit, gasping for air. Before she had a chance to catch her breath, Naruto had a kunai at her throat.

"Enough!" Genma called. "The match goes to Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto sheathed the kunai and dispelled the shadow clone. He extended a hand to Tsumeki, who took it when she could finally move again.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "My back is bruised up and I think I have a few cuts from rocks, but I'm fine. That was clever. I didn't even stop to think that you might have been baiting me."

"Yeah, well, I use my head every once in a while," he said.

"Even I couldn't have seen that coming," she conceded.

Genma approached the two. "Ms. Shuro, you can either go to the infirmary if you feel you need medical attention, or you may return to the box if you wish to watch the next few fights."

"I think I'll stay," she said.

Genma nodded, and then looked at Naruto. "Fierce Deity Jutsu?"

"Working on it still," the Genin replied. "I knew it wasn't ready, but I wanted to see if I could pull it off anyways."

"That's dangerous," said Genma. "But gutsy. Let me know when you finish it; you've made me curious."

"Sure," Naruto said.

* * *

Naruto woke up feeling cold and slightly groggy. He was acutely aware that he was laying on something hard – stone?

"Wake up, idiot!" Tsumeki yelled.

"Huhwha?" Naruto said, bolting up.

"Someone used some sort of jutsu that put everyone to sleep!" she said. "The village is under attack!"

"What? By who?"

"Sand ninja is my guess. That Kankuro guy tried to kill you before you woke up, but I drove him off. He and Temari ran off with Gaara."

"Gaara?" Naruto remembered that Gaara had been fighting Sasuke and that he had gone into a weird sand ball thing, but after that... that must have been when the sleep jutsu happened.

"Yeah. I don't think anyone went after them, and..." she bit her lip. "I think Gaara is Suna's jinchuuriki. He was looking a bit funky before he left. If I'm right, we need to go and take care of him. Like, now."

Sasuke hauled himself up into the Competitors' Box. "Come on! We need to chase Gaara and the other two! We can't let them get away to do whatever it is they're planning!"

Naruto looked out at the arena. There was fighting in the arena proper, in the stands, and probably all over the city.

"You two go," Naruto said. "They're going to need help here." He grabbed his sword and drew it. "I'm going to stay."

Sasuke nodded. "Come on, Tsumeki!" He jumped out of the box and continued up over the wall.

Tsumeki started to follow, and then looked back at Naruto. "You stay alive," she said. "Because we need to talk about Us after I get back."

"Sure thing, Tsu. You go kick some ass."

She smiled and followed Sasuke out of the box.

Naruto stood at the edge of it and yelled, "Good morning Konoha, this is Naruto Uzumaki, your local weatherman, and I'm predicting cloudy with a one hundred percent chance of pain!"

* * *

(POV Shift – Tsumeki)

(About twenty minutes later)

Tsumeki was facing Gaara one-on-one. Sasuke had lagged behind to combat Temari, and she would have been tied up with Kankuro, but Shino showed up at the last minute and allowed her to continue on. He was proving to be a quite capable opponent, and he was for sure a jinchuuriki. He looked like he had transformed halfway between himself and a tanuki. Even without bringing the Tailed Creature's full power to bear, he was immensely powerful. She had had to drop the illusion over her appearance to conserve her chakra.

Tsumeki jumped and dodged an attack with a long, sand-extended appendage.

"What's wrong, little fox?" Gaara taunted, practically drooling with crazy. "Too scared to fight me?"

"Too cautious, more like," she yelled back.

"No caution! FIGHT ME! SHOW ME THAT I'M ALIVE!"

"Wha... Of course you're alive, you stupid bugger!" She dodged another attack. This time, the limb tore through the branch she had been standing on. Tsumeki grabbed a higher one and spun up onto it.

Gaara began to use a different technique. Instead of attacking her directly, he began to shoot giant claws of sand at her. She dodged the first one, and gulped when she saw what it had done. The tree it had impacted had a three-foot dent in it. Getting hit by one of those could very well mean game over.

Tsumeki jumped from the tree she was in and swung from branch to branch, moving towards Gaara at a high speed. He fired another claw at her, and she spun up onto the branch and launched herself with a chakra-assisted jump at the jinchuuriki.

"Fire Style: Kitsune Fire Claws!" she yelled. Her claws wreathed themselves with a flame as deep a red as her hair and fur, and she prided herself in remembering a jutsu she hadn't used since her childhood. She swing both claws at Gaara, and five lines of fire sprung from each hand to assault him.

He lifted his arm to protect himself, and he did succeed in stopping the attack in its tracks. However, the areas where the fire had impacted had turned to rough glass. Gaara dropped them from his arm, reforming into sand. The glass shattered somewhere on the forest floor below.

Tsumeki smirked. "Got ya." She bounced off his head and landed on a tree branch. While she went through the hand seals again, preparing to launch another wave of fire at him, when a quaking caught her off balance. She had to cease the jutsu to remain on the tree.

"Now..." Gaara said. "Now, you DIE!"

Sand exploded from the ground and swirled up to surround Tsumeki. Her eyes widened. She tried to jump and avoid it, but it moved too fast, and she was grabbed by the ankle. It quickly rose up around her body and threatened to begin crushing her. However, before it could, part of the cocoon of sand turned to glass, and Tsumeki broke through it. She landed on another tree, and wasted no time in jumping again, and again, and again. The sand was right on her tail (in a more literal sense than she cared to think about) when suddenly, it stopped and drew back. She chanced a look behind her to see it all rushing for Gaara, who was beginning to cackle madly.

"What in the hell..." she murmured.

It became quickly evident what was happening. As the sand piled up upon itself and swirled around Gaara, it began to take form.

And the form it took?

A giant Tanuki.

Tsumeki recognized it on sight from the stories her grandfather had told her. "Shukaku," she gasped. "The Ichibi."

When it finished forming, it must have stood half again as high as Konoha's own walls. Gaara was perched upon its forehead, only the upper half of his body vulnerable. It was only due to her Kitsune hearing that she was able to hear his next words.

"Play Possum Jutsu..." he said.

Gaara slumped over, and suddenly, the giant Tanuki's eyes went from dull brown to bright gold.

"Finally!" it yelled. "Finally, I'm out! And I'm here to stay!" It laughed maniacally. "It feels good to breathe again!" Shukaku inhaled deeply, and then paused. "I smell Ikuko..." He looked around. "Where are you, you damned fox?! I have a score to settle with you!"

Tsumeki found herself speaking before she could exercise any sort of better judgment. "He's dead!" she yelled. "But I'm his granddaughter! I'll be more than happy to settle that score!"

Shukaku looked down. "Ikuko's brat's brat, eh? And with only a single tail! Hahahahaha!" The laugh reverberated. Tsumeki felt her bones vibrate. "Well, I suppose we both have a tail, don't we? But I'm willing to wager that mine's worth more than yours!"

"Wager all you want!" she yelled back. She had no idea why she wasn't running. She was scared out of her mind. "You may be stronger, but I've got my grandfather's brain behind me! And if what he's told me about you is true, you haven't one to back you!"

"What the – are you calling me stupid, girl? I don't take kindle to insults!" Shukaku lifted a fist and slammed it into it's belly. "Wind bullet!"

Tsumeki's eyes widened, and she scrambled into the next tree. She was still flung away by the blast, which she hadn't the time to fully avoid. However, she recovered on the landing and began to run.

"Wind bullet! Wind bullet! Wind bullet!"

Three explosions of air trailed Tsumeki, barely keeping ahead of her.

_How do you beat the Ichibi? Think, Tsumeki, think!_

Another explosion caught her, but she kept her form the whole time, landing gracefully on the tree it propelled her towards.

_Shukaku came out when Gaara went to sleep, so I need to wake him up. So, I need to get up there. But how?_

"Stop running so I can kill you, you brat!"

_Foxfire? But his mind will be strong, stupid or not, by merit of his power. How do you work that?_

"You just make a lot of foxfire," she said. Her fists became coated with a blue flame that she knew would be pleasing to the eye of any to see it. She sprung into the air and made rapid punching motions. Balls of the same color fire flew and stuck to the first surface they touched.

_That won't be nearly enough, _she thought. _I need more. _Before she jumped again, she left a large ball of foxfire floating in the air on the branch. She threw more foxfire as she leaped to the next tree. Another explosion of wind came from behind her, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She looked behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief. Even if the trees were flattened and gone, the foxfire hadn't moved. Each ball was still pulling chakra from her, and therefore was still lit.

Tsumeki jumped down from the tree, plummeting towards the forest floor headfirst. She spun sideways, leaving a large double helix of fire behind her. She rotated so that her feet were under her and landed. She didn't dare stop for a moment, and ran along the floor, leaving two bright and burning trails of fire behind her. She threw a few balls to each side, breaking the trail, and looked at Shukaku. His eyes were starting to gravitate towards the fire, but they didn't stay long enough.

"You're making me angry, girl!"

_I need more chakra, _she thought. Tsumeki tapped into her tail, and suddenly, everything seemed clear. Colors were more vibrant, edges more defined. She smelled all of the scents of the forest, and the overpowering stench of death radiating from Shukaku, all more powerful now that she pulled power from her tail. Her legs didn't burn with pain like they had before; it was little more than a dull ache, easily pushed to the back of her mind. She moved faster, outpacing the wind bullets with what felt like ease. She stopped throwing errant balls of flame, and put both of her hands together. She channeled as much power as she dared into it, and it grew in size. Very quickly, she had to hold it over her head because it was bigger than her. When she dared invest no more chakra, she threw it in the air.

"That's it!" Shukaku said. It slammed a fist down into the forest, and Tsumeki narrowly dodged it.

_Moment of truth, _she thought. She willed all of the foxfire she had released to gather. It rushed towards the giant ball she had thrown, and as more and more foxfire joined the mass, it took the form of a giant nine-tailed fox.

* * *

(POV Shift – Kurenai)

The allure of the giant blue fox was powerful, even if it was miles out of the village. She was able to shut it out of her mind, but she watched the ninja round her, Leaf, Sand, and Sound alike, stop their fighting and begin to wander towards it.

_Is the girl truly capable of such power? _Kurenai wondered. _Is this what she can muster?_

She shook her head. It was best not to dwell on the topic. A momentary advantage was gained over the enemy shinobi, and she planned to capitalize on it.

* * *

(POV Shift – Tsumeki)

It had worked. The mass of foxfire had distracted Shukaku long enough for Tsumeki to rush up its arm, still left in the ground. She moved over it in bounds and leaps, not wanting to spend more time than necessary touching the Tanuki's body. The edges of her vision began to black out, and she knew that the foxfire was pulling from too much chakra. She had to release it.

Shukaku blinked as the fox dissipated. "That was impressive, brat! The last fox who had the gall to do that to me was old Ikuko himself! I'm going to enjoy – What? Where'd you go?"

Tsumeki bit her tongue. She needed as much advantage as she could get.

"Wha the – when'd you get on me? Get off!"

Arms of sand begin to rise out of Shukaku's body, trying to grab Tsumeki. She didn't have the chakra to fight them off. She simply kept moving and hoped that they wouldn't get her. She was pulling from the last dregs of her tail. That foxfire had taken a massive amount of chakra to produce, much less to maintain.

"I said OFF!"

The sand arms redoubled their efforts. Tsumeki was almost to Gaara when one grabbed her leg.

"No!" she yelled. "NO! No no no no no!"

"Hahahaha, got you now, girl!"

"No, no, no, no, NO, NO, _NO, NO, NO, NO, **NO NO NO NO NO NO NO**_!" Tsumeki's voice rose and rose as she shouted, and chakra began to roll off of her body. "_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**_!" Without any sort of hand signs or focusing, Tsumeki's claws wreathed in fire and severed the arms holding her. With one last jump, she catapulted towards Gaara, hitting him with a punch hard enough that she heard his jaw crack. The Sand Ninja's eyes snapped open, and this time, it was Shukaku's turn to lament.

"Noo! I don't want to go back into the seal!" Its eyes dimmed, and the giant body of sand began to crumble. Tsumeki, exhausted, could do little more than ride the waves of sand down.

Once she reached the ground, she stumbled around, looking for Gaara. She found him, laying down and breathing hard. She brandished a kunai.

"How..." he asked. "How did you defeat him?"

"I used my brain," she panted. "My skills. But mostly, my heart." She stood over him.

"Your...heart?"

"I have someone that I have to go back for. I can't just die. I have to be with him. I had to defeat Shukaku."

"Someone...to go back for."

She nodded and dropped to her knees. _I'm so tired, _she thought. "Someone to live for," she said.

"To live for," he repeated.

Temari and Kankuro, both looking injured, came out of the treeline. When they saw Tsumeki, they readied their weapons.

"No," Gaara said. "Leave her. Let her be."

"What?" asked Temari.

"Kill her," said Kankuro. "One less Leaf ninja. One more we can take out before the next assault."

"No," said Gaara. "She has...someone to go back for. Someone to live for. She's come this far. Leave her."

"Gaara, there's no time for this!" said Kankuro. He came forward with a kunai. "We have to retreat, and I'm not leaving a ninja to tell them which way we went.

"LEAVE HER!" Gaara shouted. "Leave her."

"You damned well better leave her."

_Is that...Naruto? _Tsumeki wondered.

Naruto came into her field of vision, bleeding heavily from his left shoulder. His sword, maimed and broken halfway up the blade, he still wielded in his right hand.

"The battle is over," Naruto said. "Your forces are retreating. You said it yourself. If you want to join them, if you want to go home..." He readied his broken blade. "You'd better leave her alone."

Kankuro's face twisted in rage. "I can -"

"Kankuro! Shut up!" Temari yelled. "We'll go, we'll leave her. Just let us take Gaara."

Naruto hesitated for a moment, but nodded.

The two standing Sand Ninja scooped up Gaara and began to retreat.

Naruto went to Tsumeki.

"Naruto... Your sword..."

"Badass Sound Ninja," Naruto said. "Oh yeah, we were fighting them, too, by the way. He found the resonant frequency of my sword or some shit. It broke." He put the weapon in its scabbard. "C'mon, let's get you home."

Tsumeki felt a sudden pain shoot through her, and she screamed. Her tail felt like it was growing.

Naruto watched it swell, growing to twice its normal width (but staying the same length), before it suddenly split down the middle.

Tsumeki had earned her second tail.

She would have to wait until she woke to discover that she had, however. She had passed out from the pain.

Naruto scooped her up in his arms.

"C'mon, let's get you home," he repeated. He began to walk back towards Konoha.

* * *

**Wooooohoooooo! And that is chapter five! I hope you enjoyed reading that fight as much as I enjoyed writing it! Man, I'm psyched right now! **

**SUPER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! I have made a blog for Tsumeki-chan! You can go there to follow my thoughts on progress for the story and whatnot. I'll also be covering some big issues in the story that I want to make sure are cleared up on the blog, and they WILL NOT BE COVERED HERE. For example, within the next day, you can expect me to clarify exactly what's going on with Tsumeki's Concealment versus using a Kitsune Illusion to hide her appearance. So, if you want to get that, you'd better head over to tsumekichanff dot blogspot dot com. That should be the working link; if not, try different variations of it (such blogger dot com) or send me a PM. **

**Anyways, that's it for now. As always, please leave me a review, as I love reviews with all of my heart! Thanks for reading!**

**Update: Wow, thanks a bunch to fresh prince1 for pointing out that fanfiction dot net took my links down. If you can't decipher the URL from this post, I have a link up on my profile page.**


	6. Dreaded Filler Chapter

**Heya, folks. Seems like you all enjoyed the last chapter well enough, and that's good. I tried hard with it, and knowing that it was well received makes me happy. Five is my favorite chapter so far. **

**As for this chapter, we aren't moving into the next arc yet. I know, you're all crushed. I felt a buffer chapter was in order, as I didn't want to rush right into the next bit of the plot. **

**IMPORTANT: Some of you might not have noticed the fix last chapter, but I edited the document so that the URL to my blog was actually, y'know, there. Again, I'm posting a lot of stuff that would usually hit my Author's Notes to the blog now, as one of my goals with it was to decrease the word count in my AN's. So, to get to the blog, either follow the URL provided at the end of chapter five or go through my profile. There's a link to it there.**

**All right. Chapter six, INITIATE!**

* * *

_One Month Later_

Naruto ducked under the curtain covering the entryway into the shop. It was a smaller shop that forged all of the weapons they sold, as opposed to buying and reselling them. Tenten had highly recommended it to him, but he had never had an occasion to visit before now.

"Hello, and welcome!" said a muscular man. He easily stood six and a half feet tall, and his eyebrows (the only hair present on his head) were a silvery white. Had it not been for the wrinkles, Naruto could have easily believed that he was far younger than he was. "What can a humble smith and proprietor as myself do for you today?"

"Hi," Naruto said. He took the half of his sword he had from the sheath and placed it on the counter. "My sword broke during the invasion."

The man sighed. "Were it all that was broken." He remained silent for a moment. "Do you have the rest of the blade?"

"No, I don't. It shattered and the pieces were everywhere. I couldn't recover them."

The smith picked up Naruto's sword. "Hmm."

"What? What's wrong?"

"I do not have the materials to reforge this blade. The metals used in its construction are foreign and expensive to import. I'm sorry." He handed it back to Naruto.

Naruto took it. "Well, could you make me a new one?"

The old man smiled. "Of course I can, boy! How do you think I make a living?" He came out from behind the counter and retrieved a few swords off of the wall.

"Uhm, I wasn't looking to just buy a new one, I was going to ask you to actually make one."

"I understand. But you must show me the style you want, no? And we must discuss length in addition to shape. The weight of the hilt, the construction of the handguard – if you desire one, that is – and especially the sheath. An integral part of any sword, to be sure."

"The sheath? But isn't it just for holding the sword?"

The man scoffed. "Just for holding the sword? My friend, look at any great swordsman! You'll find that almost all of them have used the sheath of their blade in combat! Not only is it an excellent bludgeoning tool, but if you should be disarmed, it can be used to parry your enemy's strikes!"

"I had never thought of that."

He grinned. "I'd suspect that's because you haven't fought against another swordsman while disarmed."

"No, I haven't," Naruto agreed. "At least, not while I've had a sword myself."

The smith laid out the blades on the countertop, their sheathes set to the side. "First, the blade. Which shape calls to you?"

Naruto looked at the collection of swords. He could see the merits of each of the styles, but none particularly 'called' to him. "Just the standard katana, I think."

"Mm. You can't go wrong with it. How much do you know of metals?"

"Uh...Not much."

"Then you have no preference to the material?"

"Just whatever's strongest, I guess."

He nodded. "Of course. And the length?"

"My last katana had a blade of about thirty inches."

"I can do that easily. Now, let me show you what handguards I can fit it with..."

* * *

Naruto walked out of the shop about thirty minutes later. He had placed the order for the sword and made a down payment to cover the materials. He would pay the rest when his katana was completed in a month's time.

"Hey there, Naruto."

Naruto jumped. "Damn, Tenten, you scared me. Don't do that."

Tenten laughed. "Try and make me stop," she said.

He rolled his eyes. "Were you waiting for me?"

"Mmhmm," she said. "I wanted to ask about your sword. What's it going to look like?"

"You can wait and see like everyone else," he said, grinning.

She stuck out her lower lip. "C'mon, please? Pleeaaaase?"

Naruto chuckled and started walking. "Puppy eyes have no effect on me, Tenten."

"Aw, c'mon, Naruto!" she said, running after him. "Why won't you tell me?"

"'Cause I don't feel like it."

"Why not?"

He shouldered her to the side. "'Cause I don't."

"Jerk." She pushed him back. "Well, I'm cleared to return to active duty now. Want to start training again?"

"Well, I would, but I kind of don't have a sword."

"We can stop by my place. I have a spare or twelve you can use."

"I'm sure you do. All right, let's go."

They wound through the streets, continuing to joke and push each other while they made towards Tenten's apartment. When they arrived, Naruto leaned up against the side of the building.

"What are you doing?" asked Tenten.

"I was just going to wait here."

"No, come in. You don't need to stand out here."

He shrugged. "All right."

Naruto followed Tenten to her apartment, which was on the second story of the building. He shoved the grim realization that the complex was established under the Stipend Act for Orphans to the back of his mind.

She opened the door and let him in. "Take a seat on the couch or at the table," she said. "I'll only be a minute."

He sat down on the couch. It was very comfy. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about being in Tenten's apartment. On the one hand, it was whatever. She was a friend, she was grabbing some swords to practice with. Who cares. On the other, Naruto wasn't an idiot; he was acutely aware of the silent feud between Tenten and Tsumeki. Or at least, he was sure that there was one; every time he and Tsumeki tried to get together to discuss their feelings for each other, Tenten or a close friend of hers managed to interrupt. Tsumeki also seemed to be adamant that Naruto's skill with a sword now far outshone Tenten's and he therefore no longer needed to practice with her. Naruto knew this wasn't true, and he was positive that Tsumeki knew this as well. He had also heard from Hinata, who was a close friend of Tsumeki's and at least a good accomplice to Tenten, that the two sometimes would get into hushed arguments intense enough that Hinata could practically feel their disdain for each other. He didn't know Hinata terribly well, but he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't lie about something for no reason, or for personal gain (though Naruto was unsure what gain she'd have in lying about that). What all of this meant was that being caught in her apartment could spell disaster.

The only thing that baffled Naruto is what the two girls might be feuding about. He had thought it might be him, but that was a vain and self-centered thought. Naruto passed it off as improbable almost immediately, but still had no satisfactory alternative explanation.

_I mean, they _could _be fighting over me, _he thought. _I'm close with both of them, and if by some miracle both of them have fallen for me... _The thought of convincing the two to share him briefly flashed through his mind, and he shook his head vigorously while fighting down a blush. Such a thing was unthinkable. Or should be, at the very least.

A loud crash, followed by Tenten crying out in surprise, came from the other end of the apartment. Naruto jumped up and ran toward the source of the noise. It came from behind a closed door, and, without thinking about it, Naruto threw the door open.

What he saw was a collection of many different swords scattered about the floor, along with Tenten's shirt, which had been cut neatly in half across the front. The aforementioned girl stood clad in her pants and a bra, standing on one foot. She had presumably jumped back from the falling blades, and they had claimed her shirt as a prize.

Naruto was suddenly acutely aware that Tenten's breasts were about half again as big as Tsumeki's.

Naruto was suddenly also acutely aware that not only did he know exactly how big Tsumeki's breasts were, but he had committed the size to memory. This development was not unwelcome in the lower brain, but the upper brain was concerned and more than slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, Naruto. Sorry if I scared you. The swords fell out of the closet." She quickly resettled back to having both feet on the ground.

_Bounce._

"Just give me a second to grab these..." she leaned over quickly.

_Bounce, bounce. _He had a clear view of the swell of her chest.

"Uhm... I'll just..." _Do I help her clean the swords up, or do I leave her alone? She's _shirtless_!_

Chivalry won the day, and he helped her to pick up the swords.

"Thanks, Narut—ooph!"

_Oh God._

If Naruto's lower brain hadn't been standing at attention before, it certainly was now. As he had stood up, a small dagger that was lacking a sheath had caught on Tenten's bra, which was now floating down to the ground.

_Bounce, bounce, bounce._

"Uhm. I. Uh. Sorry. I didn't mean to, er, ah, uh, sorry."

Tenten's face was red, but she didn't seem to be in a hurry to cover up. She set the swords she had down, and took the ones Naruto had to do the same.

"Uh. Shouldn't you. Uh. You know. Bra?"

She stepped in close to him and kissed him. She was deliberately pressing her breasts against his chest.

"Mmph. Mm. Mm-mm!" Naruto pulled back. "Tenten, what are you-"

She grabbed his hair and kissed him again and tried to pull him towards her bed.

Naruto pulled back again. "Tenten, what are you doing?"

She blinked. "What do you mean? I thought it was fairly obvious."

Naruto finally just shut his eyes and turned his head. "Look, I don't...I mean, you're a great friend, but I'm not...romantically inclined in that direction."

"You mean you're gay?"

"No! No! I mean, I don't...I'm not..." He paused. "There's no good way to say this. I'm just...I'm not interested in a relationship with you."

Naruto felt, rather than saw, her face darken. He wasn't sure if it was in sadness or anger, however. "Oh. Well, then."

The cogs in Naruto's head were working overtime. "You weren't cut," he said. "And neither was your bra. The swords didn't cut your shirt when they fell, did they?"

He heard her sigh. "No, they didn't. I admit, I didn't intend for my bra to actually come off that fast, but it wasn't an unwelcome touch."

Naruto wasn't sure the image would be leaving his brain any time soon. Either of them. "I...I think I should go," he said.

"Naruto, wait."

"No, Tenten. I really do think I should go. I'll...I'll talk to you later."

* * *

Naruto had been wandering the streets of Konoha for the better part of an hour. He was confused and unsure how to deal with Tenten. She had tried to bait him into sex. Or at least some rather heavy petting. On the one hand, he was hurt that she had decided to take that route out of all of the others she could have taken and insulted that she thought that it would work. On the other, he was sympathetic towards her. It was _NOT _easy to tell someone that you were in love – or at least heavily infatuated – with them. That wasn't the best way to do it, sure, but he couldn't blame her for trying something. Anything was better than suffering in silence, right?

One way or the other, the friendship had been damaged, and not because of any unrequited feelings. It had been damaged because she had tried to get him to have sex with her, and kind of because he had seen her gigantic knockers and couldn't get them out of his brain and there was just no way he could look at her and not see that image and it would make training with her so hard and distracting and...

Naruto stopped and took a deep breath. He expelled it early when he was struck in the back by a projectile he knew had red hair and beautifully clear and pale skin.

And nice boobs. Ugh. There was no way he was walking out of this day without thinking about boobs more than he wanted to. Well, not more than he wanted to, but more than he kind of _wanted _to...

"Hiya, Naruto!"

"Uh...hey, Tsumeki."

He felt her chin rest on top of his head. "What's wrong?"

"It's...nothing, really. Just thinking."

"Bullshit. What's going on in that noggin of yours?"

"Really, Tsumeki, it's nothing."

"Lie to me one more time and I'm going to ride you around Konoha like a horse. Spurs included. What's wrong?"

He sighed. She was persistent and would not relent as long as she thought he was troubled. Her aggressively compassionate personality was one of the many paradoxes that made him love her so much.

And her breasts. _DAMNIT, Tenten!_

"We should go somewhere private. Ish."

"We could go back to one of our apartments."

Naruto's reply was instantaneous. "Let's not."

"Uh...okay...Hokage Monument?"

"Yeah, sure, that works."

She rode his back the entire way there. They didn't talk at all, and Naruto could tell that she grew progressively more concerned as they went on.

The second they reached the top of the monument, she climbed up on his back a little higher and leaned over so that she was looking into his eyes upside-down. "What's going on? You're scaring me."

"Could we...you know..."

Tsumeki hopped off of his back and came around to his front.

"Thank you."

"Now what is it?"

"Promise nobody will die."

"What?"

"Tsumeki, I want your promise that you aren't going to kill anyone when I tell you this."

"Yeah, I promise."

"Or maim, or injure."

"None of the above."

"Tenten tried to have sex with me."

"I'll be back."

"Tsumeki."

"Naruto, she -"

"I know. I was there."

"Please don't cut me off."

"Sorry. Look, I was in her apartment because she was grabbing some swords so we could practice -"

"Why didn't you wait outside?"

"She insisted that I come in."

Tsumeki sharply exhaled through her nose. That was one of the tells she had that clued off anyone attentive enough to notice that she was beyond a little unhappy.

"So I was waiting, and then there's this crash, and I go in and she's there in her bra, and it looks like a sword cut off her shirt when a bunch of them fell."

"Yeah, right."

"Tsumeki, please let me finish."

She sighed. "'Kay."

"So I help her pick up the swords, and then a dagger nicks her bra and cuts it off -"

It was less of an exhale and more of an explosion through her nose, this time. _Maybe I could __have left that part out. _"And then she kissed me and tried to pull me to her bed, so I left."

"Yeah? You sure you didn't tap that before making a quick escape?"

Naruto's heart split in half at the distrust Tsumeki showed him, and he knew that she saw it. Her eyes widened and her hands snapped over her mouth. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. It just...popped out. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

They stood there in silence for a few moments before she spoke again. "So...who's bigger?"

Naruto's face flushed red. "Uh...well...I know you're a medium C... I think she's probably...D? I don't know. Half again. God. This is weird. Can we not?"

"Yeah."

Silence.

"What a whore. Having bigger boobs than me. What's her problem?"

"It's hardly her fault."

"Who cares."

Silence.

"Tsumeki -" "Naruto-"

Silence.

"I think it's time we talked about us, Tsumeki."

"Yeah."

Silence.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"About?"

"Me," she said nervously.

"Everything," Naruto said. "You're everything I could ever want. You're beautiful, inside and out." He made sure to look her directly in the eyes. "I'm in love with you, Tsumeki. Deeply, madly in love with you. Ears, fangs, tails and all."

Tsumeki smiled widely. "I'm in love with you too, Naruto. Every bit as much." He thought he saw her start to tear up, but he didn't have time to fully register it, as she began to pull him in for a kiss.

"The Elders require your presence," said an ANBU who had approached unheard.

Naruto growled. "The Elders can wait two damned minutes for me to have an emotional moment with my new girlfriend here."

"They insist -"

"They can wait," Tsumeki snapped, and she and Naruto resumed the kiss that was so rudely interrupted.

* * *

"You know it isn't your fault that Sasuke got to Orochimaru," Tsumeki said. "You said it yourself: the power of the Cursed Seal was too much for you. You had to retreat, or he'd have killed you."

Naruto didn't reply.

"I'm glad you let him go," she said. "If you had fought with him longer, you might have died, and..." she let out a shaky breath. "I don't know if I could have lost you so soon after getting you."

Naruto smiled, just a little. His stay at the hospital was more of a formality; he hadn't been beaten up too bad. He had retreated before the worst of the fighting with Sasuke had started. Mostly, it was chakra exhaustion from fighting so many people in a row for so long. That Kimimaro had been unnaturally strong; inhumanly, even. Rock Lee's presence on the mission was a great boon; it allowed Naruto to continue pursuing Sasuke, even if it had been fruitless in the end.

"Even the greatest cannot always win," said Gaara. Gaara and his siblings, Temari and Kankuro, had shown up to aid in the retrieval mission. Their arrival couldn't have been more timely; Gaara had saved Rock Lee's life, and Temari and Kankuro had likely saved Shikamaru and Kiba from the clutches of death as well. Their assistance was a sign of goodwill and, hopefully, the beginning of a lasting alliance between Konoha and Suna.

"I know," Naruto said, speaking for the first time since he had returned. "It still doesn't mean that I've failed Sasuke as a teammate. I should have been able to stop him."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Tsumeki said. "He deserted, he wasn't kidnapped. Screw him."

Naruto smiled again. "You're usually so quick to tell me to leave him alone."

"He wasn't a traitor when you were giving him shit."

"Naruto." The mentioned looked at Gaara, who had spoken. "You are an able ninja. Sasuke was simply more able. It simply means you must be stronger. You have someone to help you with that." He looked at Tsumeki as he said this. "If you are half the ninja that the Fox says you are, then I have no trouble believing you will be able to far surpass Sasuke."

Naruto was glad no hospital staff were around; he knew that Temari and Kankuro had seen Tsumeki's true form, but nobody wanted it to get around more than it had to. "Thanks." He sighed. "I just...I think that if I could figure this damned jutsu out, I might have been able to bring him back. Even if it was just as a prisoner."

"Your Fierce Dragon or whatever?" Tsumeki asked.

"Fierce Deity," Naruto corrected.

"Right. Well, hey. I'm not going to steal it, and we don't have to fight each other. And we're dating. That all together should mean that I'm allowed to know about it before it's done, right? And then I can help you with it!"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah. Of course. Thank you." He looked at Gaara. "And thank you, too. And tell your siblings the same. You saved the lives of several of my friends on that mission. I owe you big."

"No need to incur a debt," Gaara said. "We were simply following orders. Even if I did count this on a tally, I would simply consider it repayment for lessons learned and services rendered." Again, he looked at Tsumeki.

Naruto looked between the two. "I think you need to tell me exactly what you did for and/or to him, Tsumeki. I'm still not clear on that."

"Maybe some other time. For now, rest. You need to hurry up and finish healing, because the Elders have another mission for us."

"Do they? What is it?"

"They won't say. But it's you, me, Kakashi, and Shikamaru. It's important, I guess, but not so much so that we can't wait for you."

"Why me? Why not grab another ninja?"

Tsumeki shrugged. "Who knows. Ask them when it's time." She stood up. "All right. You sleep. I'll see you later."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

She left the room. Gaara inclined his head to Naruto and took his leave as well.

Naruto lay back in the bed. "Another mission already, huh? Should be interesting."

* * *

**Just a short, dinky little filler chapter. It's not even that good. I don't really like it, and I think it might be rushed, but it's the best I'm going to do with it, so, whatever. I didn't want to jump straight from the Konoha Invasion to the next arc, so I needed something here, but I didn't have much to put. I hope you liked the little bit I did give you well enough, and I hope to have Chapter Seven out soon. Till next time.**


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